The Safer Way to Remove Rust Stains from Carpet

That pesky rust! Most professionals cleaners often encounter rust spots on carpet.  With numerous acid-based rust removers available, chooseing the correct rust stain remover is critical – not only to successfully remove the rust stain but also for your safety.

Some products use an extremely strong acid called hydrofluoric acid, a legacy product in the industry with an accepted risk of skin burns, damage to bones, etc. Although extremely effective, these acids come with such safety issues that they have been mostly replaced with newer and safer acid-based products that do the same job with less risk.

Here are two safer rust removal products:

• Prochem Rust Remover - an oxalic acid-based product
• Chemspec Rust Remover - a bifluoride acid-based product

Even though the oxalic- and bifluoride-based rust removers are safer than the hydrofluoric acids that were previously used, you must always rinse and neutralize these acid spotters when treating rust stains.

Here’s the process to effectively remove rust stains from carpet:

1. Clean the carpets per normal cleaning. If rust stains remain, apply rust remover to the stained fibers only.
2. Allow product to work until stain is removed.
3. Neutralize with the proper alkaline product and rinse and extract the treated areas.