Citric Acid Bath - HELP

[David Keller NC]

ken,
also am not sure if this is true, but, i have heard that acids can cause microscopic pitting that can damage iron and steel parts and make rusting more prevalent in the future.
good luck!

In general, the acid to stay away from as far as pitting steel is Muriatic (Hydrochloric) acid. The presence of the chloride ion in this acid has a special mechanism that causes pitting in carbon/iron alloys (i.e., steel).

The strong mineral acids (sulfuric, hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, hydroiodic, etc...) will erode both rust and iron; the weak acids (acetic, citric, etc...) will generally erode only rust.

[Ryan Baker]

Just get a can of Barkeeper's Friend (oxalic acid) at any local store for about $2-3. It does a great job of cleaning rust off of iron.

[Christian Castillo]

Do all acids result in hydrogen embrittlement? I tend to use Evapo-Rust on anything that cuts because the website specifically states the Evaporust doesn't cause it to happen. I'm interested in using acid for things that don't require edge retention, but if I could switch over to say, citric acid, I would rather prefer that as Evaporust is expensive.