Vinegar

This is not true. I did a lot of research on citric acid a year or so ago because I was led to believe this same thing. I bought some and experimented with various strength solutions and never experienced much success. In the end, I bought some litmus strips (remember them from chemistry class?), and the citric acid solution tested out with a pH of 1.5, which is highly acidic. When I tested some Evaporust with the same strips, it yielded a pH of 7 (neutral), the same as distilled water. In the end, I was very disappointed with citric acid as a rust removal agent.

I like and have used Evaporust a lot, great product.



I agree citrus acid its acidic. It's in the name, wasn't saying it wasn't acidic. Much like vinegar is acidic. But, yes citric acid is a natural chelating agent.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid


Cleaning and chelating agent

Citric acid is an excellent chelating agent, binding metals by making them soluble. It is used to remove and discourage the buildup of limescale from boilers and evaporators.[10] It can be used to treat water, which makes it useful in improving the effectiveness of soaps and laundry detergents. By chelating the metals in hard water, it lets these cleaners produce foam and work better without need for water softening. Citric acid is the active ingredient in some bathroom and kitchen cleaning solutions. A solution with a six percent concentration of citric acid will remove hard water stains from glass without scrubbing. Citric acid can be used in shampoo to wash out wax and coloring from the hair.



In industry, it is used to dissolve rust from steel and passivate stainless steels[26].
Illustrative of its chelating abilities, citric acid was the first successful eluant used for total ion-exchange separation of the lanthanides, during the Manhattan Project in the 1940s. In the 1950s, it was replaced by the far more efficient EDTA.
 
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