I have contacted CRC (current owners of Evapo-Rust) and the original inventor of Evapo-Rust. I have been running this experiment longer than CRC have owned Evapo-Rust, so they did not know what caused this but "will be looking into it". The original inventor has yet to get back to me. I will keep this pinned post updated if something new develops. More detailed updates will be on Instagram @handtoolrescue.

Hi, corrosion technician here! My guess is the shiny metal is a result of ALL of the oxide layer being removed, leaving perfectly bare, unblemished steel. This of course is normally hard to do, as contact with oxygen starts rusting it again almost immediately. In my industry we call this " active corrosion", but most of us have only read about it happening. The discoloration is where the steel was not entirely encased , thus allowing oxygen to get to the steel. Either that or alienz.

This is probably the best sales pitch for a rust remover I've ever seen, and it was completely accidental. The fact that the steel is still pristine shows just how gentle it is on the base metal, and that it still works after being redisolved is amazing to me. My brother works in steel fabrication and I'll definitely send this video his way!

I was a Chemist in a past life. One old trick to better understand the composition of Evaporust is to contact them for an MSDS. It will contain information on the chemical makeup. Easy to justify since you operate a shop with a 55 gal open drum and are often elbow deep in the stuff. I’m curious about the chelating agent (used to be my area aka ligands). The most common by far is EDTA and is found in many many products. It could be that or a similar compound. It also sounds like it has a strong reducing agent (the sulfur compounds). Just remember LEO goes GER - Lose Electrons Oxidation, Gain Electrons Reduction. The shiny surface is likely the removal of an oxide layer.

This is now, the rarest and most valuable HTR wrench in existence. Everything about it is special. The story, the defect, the 3 years in forbidden liquid nutella worth of newly, mysteriously gathered patina...

If there's a sulfur compound, it seems like what you'd end up with is largely ferrous sulfide, after all the reduction had happened, if my 10th grade chemistry doesn't fail me entirely. You should send that to NileRed for analysis...he's got a benchtop NMR machine.

@HandToolRescue What’s really interesting is that when you got a reaction on the black layer with the magnet, it acted like a magnet itself with a North/South polarisation rather than just a piece of iron. It makes me wonder if the microscopic iron particles all aligned in a certain way due to being suspended in solution for such a long period and potentially even aligned with Earth’s magnetic field. It would be fascinating to see if that layer all behaves in a similar way (i.e. has the same North/South polarisation)

Regarding the parts being shiny, I think it is quite possible that the sulphur contained in Evapo-Rust formed a mid sulfuric acid and removed all the mill scale to give you that shiny surface. Sulfuric acid is one of several acids that are used to remove all mill scale from ferrous metal surfaces in preparation for welding. Another thing I noticed which I found rather puzzling was the use of your super magnet to test the solids left from the Evapo-Rust. The one particle that was attracted appeared to be magnetic itself as it kept trying to invert its position which would tend to indicate it was magnetic and had polarity.

A missed opportunity for another dad joke after the Lactose: "But I digest"

Mill scale is a form of iron oxide, so its unsurprising that Evap-o-ironoxide removed it from your tool.

Based on the color and ferromagnetism, I'm guessing that some of the sludge has turned into Fe2O3 (hematite). Also, that "Stay Negative" shirt is magnificient.

I really enjoy your work and you as a person. You completely take apart and rebuild items, I am amazed at how you know how every little part is to be put.

If you have any solid pieces left, I operate several labs with elemental analysis equipment. Be happy to analyze them.

Eric, the discoloration of the steel wrench parts seem to be at potential contact points with the stainless bowl, and I wonder if some galvanic process took place there over time? Have you cleaned the bowl to the point of seeing any corresponding marks on the bowl? I wonder if there was a very slow transfer of chromium or nickel to the wrench, from the bowl? We must find out!

Literally top 5 sources of comedy for me. It's hard doing mechanical hardware standup sitcom.

This is one of the most interesting videos I’ve seen in a while, coupled with your sense of humor made it even better

I love the line "I don't understand the shiny." You need that on a t-shirt, mate.

"I invented rust in 1993." - Dr. Hand Tool Rescue

Considering how much Evapo-Rust costs here in the UK, I'm just amazed you had enough that you forgot about a bowl full.

What is left over (if applied to rusted steel) is: Ferrous sulfide, water (which evaporated in your case), and some salt (ferrous phosphate-assuming you used a phosphoric acid rust remover). The reason it is so shiny: The steel was, more or less, completely reduced at the surface to expose non-corroded steel, and it was encased in a VERY strong hydrophobic crust (ferrous sulfide-sulfides are always black-that is a dead give away for what the black stuff is). So, water was not able to get to the steel until you removed it from the encasement.

You actually said the solution to why it is shiny, the coating is an oxide layer, just like rust is an oxide layer, the rust remover removes oxide layers. I recall when I used rust remover last there is a warning that it will remove bluing because that is an oxide layer.

Here's one for the "Best of Hand Tool Rescue" collection. Put this one right in between "Yule Log to Toothpick" and "Best Smelling Penetrating Oil".

This is Awesome. I don't understand what you did except to let these tools sit in a rust solution. They turned out pretty dang cool.

A couple of ideas about the green coloration could be nickel leached or chemically reacted from the bowl it is in. Also the black spots on the wrench could be associated with an oxidation-reduction reaction also with the stainless steel bowl. Maybe some one who knows more about chemistry and metallic interactions can figure this out.

If you give the time it took to achieve this finish the modest price of $15 / hr, you could sell this on the store for $394470. Own a rare evapo-crust skinned wrench!

As the inventor of rust, can you reveal your reasons and the backstory?

This was so interesting I had to force myself to stay awake once I started watching this after a 17 hour shift. Simply compelling. 🤯

After many years of putting it off, I finally ordered a little wrench. I have always loved the design… even printed one out of plastic for fun. Anyway, really enjoy the channel. Even though I am subscribed, this is the first I have seen the channel pop up in my feed in almost a year.

"Why is it shiny?" C'mon man. You know that an oxide layer makes steel dull. Your wrench just spent years in a chemical that removes and sequesters oxides. I think you know why. Love your channel man.

3:05 "How do I get this off ?" Suggest taking it out for a meal and play it from there.😊

Some iron alloys, mostly those that are iron and sulfur tend to either be non magnetic or weakly magnetic like Pyrite. So testing the layers for iron with a magnet may make sense if it uses Sulphur to bond with the iron it may loose that magnetism. I would suggest having each layer tested for iron content. You may be surprised with the green layer as green is one of the colors of certain Iron Oxide compounds.

I appreciate the selection of grunts provided during the wrench extraction process.

I filled a motorbike tank ( Yb100 ) of evaporust, after a couple of weeks it looked great inside, most if not all of the rust was gone, I though I will leave it in there until I finish the bike, 2 or 3 months later when I emptied it, it was like a thick silver glue and left volcanic surface all over the inside with a new kind of rust. I managed to seal it in the end with some tank sealant and it was ok but scarred. Evaporust can turn on you !

You've done the science that I don't think even the makers of Evaporust have done. Now... 3 more years!

About 5years ago I won one of your mini wrenches in a give away and I still use it to this day. Have always loved your videos

Looking at it as ya left it in a rust remover solution for years not surprisingly it left bright steel . Steel is not all that reactive over rust in the game over all . Neat reaction to see but not passed what one would expect. Cool things ya did here neat info to us who work to save old iron 😀. Tip hat 🎩 and carry on

Interesting video. It shows evaporust is pretty much safe, no matter how long you leave it in! Also great to hear your voice for free! Please talk more on UKposts! 😃

I think the white stuff was mould from the extra detritus in the bowl. An Evaporust 'stock cube' would be great. I need to de-rust some stuff, dissolve a cube in water, boom. I want that.

Brilliant vlog. Keep us all posted always been interested in the chemical make up of Evap o rust!

I absolutely love your sense of humor. Great video you did, as usual. Cheers. 😊👋

I've got an SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscope with x-ray elemental analysis), happy to toss the wrench in the SEM and send you some images/composition results.

I love the comedy that is your channel! I know there are many out there with restoration videos but I started with you and yours is still the best, funniest, and coolest restorations around. I don't film myself... yet but I restore cast iron pans, axes, blades, shovels, hoes, and other hand farm tools thanks to your inspiration.

You can polish tool steel really bright shine. So I have a thought of why it polished it. Leaving it in the liquid as the mill scale came off the vibrations from whatever you do in the area it was left created a sonic cleaning bath. So the mill scale and whatever else fell in scrubbed it to a shiny brightness. You just left it sit in a sonic cleaner. I image you use milling machine? Drill press? Saws? All create frequencies that resonate through the shop physicals and air. Sonic cleanser till the liquid dried up.

You are a good artist with a nice sense of humor, wish you further inspiration!

This was the weirdest live birth video I've ever watched. And I've watched a lot of live births.

Might be interesting to see how much the reclaimed wrench weighs compared to others of the same size.

As a kid I lived by 8 sets of railroad tracks in an industrial town in Illinois. Along the tracks were coal trains that would drop chunks of raw coal (not charcoal or coke). Some of the pieces, when broken, had a deep green sheen to them in the layers which looked like a glass onion in a way. I believe that when petroleum is starved of oxygen while experiencing high heat and compression (not so much to combust like air drying finishing products) a similar thing goes on at a molecular level as with glass. Look at the older examples of blown glass in Italy, for instance, that odd green cast is usually there in glass works that weren't very purified or had temperature controls on the cooling end of the works (multiple ovens). My bet is that green came from the oils in the Evapo-Rust hardening much faster that other molecules surrounding it once it was starved of oxygen.

without even knowing that much about chemistry, it makes sense to me. you actually told what happened; the millscale is an oxide layer, earlier you told the rustremover would pull out the oxide from the rust.. oxide is oxide, so it makes sense that the rustremover also removed the millscale oxidation. furthermore I think the dark oxide stains are basicly impurities in the steel, drawn out over time. Love your channel!

Shirt, FANTABULOUS! Bowl of mystery material, found in every college dorm refrigerator across the world. Great video!

Would be interesting to see a similar experiment in a sealed container that would potentially keep it from evaporating so much.

There have been issues where stadiums collapsed because of the jumping in unison. It is an actual thing stadium designers now take into account (similar to bridge builders)

Man, I like that wrench. It looks extremely stout like it would have some longevity to it. That’s 1 thing we want with tools. 👍🏼

When you said you invented Rust in the back seat of Cadillac Coupe de Ville I half expected you to introduce the child you named Rust!!!

The dry heaving! 😂😂❤

Milscale is a form of oxidation. Thus it was also removed. That’s why it’s shiny. Also parts exposed to air will oxidize again and either rust or go dark colored. Very simple.

You’re a very funny chap, loved the struggle with the chair. Btw I’ve been with you since the start, it’s been perilous

You've reinvented the La Brea tar pits.

I use ER in jars in my ultrasonic cleaner, and it will definitely strip black coatings off of bolts. I think it even de-zincs galvanized bolts as well. It's pretty amazing stuff.

If you're using a chelator (my guess acetic acid, because its cheap and works) AND sulfur. It's probably some kind of iron sulfide (or a complex of that and the chelator) once it ran out of reagents to react with. It's non-water soluble, but it's very likely Acid soluble (like hydrochloric acid).

A rust remover removing black oxide (which is essentially a different form of rust) shouldn't be surprising. The rusty spots are where the parts contacted the bowl reducing the contact with the rust remover, and possibly also corroding due to galvanic corrosion once the Evapo-Rust dried out.

Super satisfying to listen to the THUNK, CRACK of you finally getting the piece outta the bowl! I'd be mega interested to find out what the chemical compounds of that black obsidian-like crust contained!

Я рад что твои инструменты почти не пострадали, после такого "пирога"!👍 Очень красивые осколки, похожи на минералы)

Good Lord, I love this channel. Keep up with the good work. Can't wait to own some of your tools!

I had some bolts and nuts sitting in evaporust for a little over a year on my bench I never got back around to. It still had some liquid left but had several chunky crusty bit stuck in the center of the nuts that did not dissolve in water. The areas that didn’t crust but were still in liquid were shiny like your wrench.

A long time ago I read that watered-down sulfured blackstrap molasses can be used to remove rust, with chelation being the method of action. It did work when I used it to derust a spokeshave about 10 years ago. I think your shiny black magnetic bits are iron (II) sulfide (FeS), just comparing how they look to the Wikipedia entry. The other precipitates would (I think) be some sort of oxide from the other active ingredients in the Evaporust. That slimy goo that gets stuck to tools left too long in Evaporust is just gross. Found that out the hard way when I remembered a hand plane in a bucket of the stuff that had been in there at least a year.

What you did not mention was that if you had left the wrench in the solidified rust remover, it would still be there.

I remember that Cadillac!! It was parked on the street since , what, 1939, a fine piece of machinery. Used to pass it on the way to school, admiring it as I did all the spotless, uncorroded vehicles lining the street. Then, one morning in the summer of '93, I was shocked to see the absolute carnage along the same road, overnight most of the Caddy' was sludge, and every car past it incrementally deteriorated. I also remember one young man standing next to it, with a perfectly restored vacuum operated, electrically powered, diesel inclined 1890's nail clipper. Poor bugger looked like he had simultaneously won the Nobel prize, but swallowed it at the same time.

I just completed a one-year run of this experiment. I definitely set out to reproduce your results and didn't just forget a steel plate in the bottom of my bin. I left a mild steel plate just covered in two gallons of Evapo-Rust for 12 months. The plate was covered in powdery, brick red rust at the start. After one week, the plate was clean and the Evapo-Rust was cloudy but translucent. After twelve months the plate was coated in a black, pasty substance and the Evapo-Rust was likewise black and nearly opaque. The black substance was wet and could be partially removed with shop towels. A thin film remained on the surface of the plate and could not be removed by rubbing with the shop towel. The paste was thicker on the bottom surface of the plate. I felt a layer of the paste deposited on the bottom of the bin but it dissolved back into solution with minimal agitation. This is consistent with the thicker layer of paste deposited on the bottom of the plate - which did not sit flat on the bin bottom. I have left the plate to dry in air to see if the surface takes on any details similar to your wrench. I was glad to find that the paste was water soluble because it splashed very easily and got all over my arms. It cleaned up easily with soap and water.

Thank you for the rustful memories. Rust never sleeps.

Here are the results of my online research: 1. I strongly suspect that the hard dark green substance is an iron sulphide - i.e. the result of the sulphur in the EvapoRust solution combining with the iron oxide pulled off of the steel by the chelating agent. 2. I believe that the steel is shiny because it was kept from being exposed to the atmospheric oxygen first by the EvapoRust solution and then by the substances dissolved in the soluttion drying into an impermiable crust. IMS things generally emerge from soaking in EvapoRust in a shiny condition. 3. According to what I could find on the internet, iron sulphate is not magnetic. It has something to do with the iron atoms being happy when combined with sulphur, which is not magnetic. There. I think I have answered your questions.

Oh my God his sweet sweet voice. Haven't heard it since the excellent freebie. I wish I could afford his patreon his narratives are bar none amazing

Of course it's shiny! It was in a compound that removes iron oxide. The black oxide is tougher than red oxide so it takes longer to remove, but I guess it had long enough :D I'd imagine there was also a galvanic reaction causing corrosion, between the steel of the tool and the bowl it was in, if that wasn't steel. Although I would've expected much more corrosion around the brass thumb wheel, so maybe I'm completely wrong!

A metal wrench in a stainless bowl with a conductive solution. My guess is you set up a galvanic cell. The dark colored spots is where the wrench was touching the bowl. The green color usually means nickel in solution. So you ended up with a nickel plated wrench.

I'm curious if the new "finish" has any rust preventative properties to it? Or does it rust just as fast as the standard mill scale.

I would think its congealed grease, rust, and the heat-treated protective layer. The heat treatment is completely removed, hence the shiny residue layer on the pieces that were in contact longest, lifting it off like a stain remover. It started rusting immediately after the solution dried up but all the crap in there protected it from further pitting. Throw it in oil, light it up hot hot hot, and dump in oil to cool. Mind you I really haven't a clue as to how to work with metals lol. I'm more of a metalhead ;)

from what i understand, though i'm happy to be corrected if this is incorrect, tannic (gallic) acid is one of the components, and kept at the right pH it will slow it's reduction of iron (to "selectively" attack the oxide) and form iron tannate as a corrosion resistance coating for a short while, but in solution the iron very easily falls out and may lead to sedimentation of a magnetic layer like you experienced. no iron-sulfur chemical is magnetic, and i don't believe iron tannate is either, so while there may be layers of sediment from things left in the solution, the only thing i believe would end up magnetic would be precipitated iron from the chelated acid.

Man that Evaporust sure did evapo

The petina / finish of the tool looks like some of the 60-70's era tools I have. Maybe it is related to some kind of finishing treatment they used back in the olden days that they abandoned for something faster. This to me seems like something ol Uncle Bumblefuck AvE would have an answer for! I was puzzled by the sediment layers, I would assume the heaviest would end up at the bottom, and that that would be ferrous in nature. But maybe that layer is from the evaporust reacting with the bowl? Is the bowl aluminum? Then you might get some weird reaction with that, a layer of dirt / grime, THEN your ferrous stuff on top as it is leached from the tool? IDK, curiouser and curiouser. Fun stuff tho!

With a magnet you can detect if there are any ferromagnetic compounds of iron present, but the lack of reaction does not say anything about a lack of iron. Many iron-compounds are not magnetic. And for the layer that did react - it was only 1 of the 2 chunks and that chunk seemed to only be attracted with a certain part. It seems that it is not that this layer was magnetic but that this particular chunk had a tiny magnetic particle in it.

The shininess is easy to explain. The rust remover removed all the oxides off of the wrench. As the chemical dried out and left the residue behind, the metal was sealed away preventing it from oxidizing. Any areas that did oxidize were exposed to the air.

Could you replicate it by heating it at low temp until it evaporated?

Are you going to start producing 1/4 and 1/2 inch nut drivers to round out your third small/medium/large tool line? 😁

The discolored areas that you see on that tool is where the tool came in contact with the metal bowl. I assume that this is a stainless steel bowl which is more noble than mild steel and therefore produced a galvanic charge that negated the rust removal process in that localized area

Very interesting, my HTR mid size I got quite some years back is still my "go to" tool and a wipe down with a drop of steam oil on a rag and it comes up like new every time, keep hinting to me daughters for Xmas I would like a screwdriver kit or the extra large girder wrench but then it starts off nagging sessions about why I need another girder wrench when I have about 25 and I should be jolly grateful for the expensive hammer thru screwdriver set I got last year which is nice but doesn't have the flair or kudos of something truly handmade.

Turned into Hardened Cosmoline

I wonder what would happen if you repeated the experiment, but sealed the container so the Evaporust couldn't evaporate?

Rust, the rusty red-brown stuff is Fe2O3, but the dark surface finish on steel, especially blued steel is magnetite, or Fe3O4 which is also an iron oxide. However, magnetite, though an oxide as well, will not undergo the huge volume expansion Fe2O3 undergoes when exposed to humidity. Therefore, magnetite does not flake off continually exposing fresh iron to oxygen but will form a cohesive yet relatively porous skin around the part, that will readily hold onto a thin layer of oil thus together providing further rust protection. However, an oxide is an oxide, so evaporust probably stripped the oxygen away from that as well leaving bare metal behind. Thus the shiny

I usually dump my evaporust in a galvanized steel bucket (that's also been used to hold dirt, chicken feed, used motor/ hydraulic oil, etc.) for derusting tools. After about 2-3 months of use, it began leaving this black layer of finish on tools. It straight up looked like black oxide coating from the factory. It'd rub off easy, leaving my hands kinda sooty, and there were flakes of the stuff on the inside and bottom of the bucket. The liquid's color also changed to a more darker green, nearly black. I still got that evaporust, and keep it seperate from a newer jug. It's cool to see what 3 years of the stuff just sitting does.

We need AvE to weigh in on this. He knows everything!

Wait my wrench has a serial number?! *three minutes later* Oh hey, #290, nice.

I belive millscale is a form of "protective rust/oxidation" much like when you blue a piece of metal which would be why it comes off in the rust remover because technically it is a controlled rust area to help prevent further oxidization

OK, I want to know how it was left. How long ago did the Evaporust evaporate? Looked like it might have been outside, or at least exposed to dandelion seeds. Do dandelion seeds rust?

Looks like a little chunk of Resse's Cup.

I bought one of those very first ones, can't remember the number but I ordered within days of your announcement on here. I'll try and get in my garage and check it. Charlie 🇬🇧

I would say that the reason the wrench is in such pristine condition is that the evapo-rust has removed the mill scale that was on the surface and left it with the shiny finish because thats whats under mill scale. the dark spots mab where the steel has been in contact with the alluminium bowl that you put it in and this may have caused galvanic reaction between the Al. and the Steel. I do wonder if you add water to the dry compound in the bowl, whether it would reactivate evapo-rust and still work, I dont see why not.

The most likely explanation is that because mill-scale is another version of iron oxide, the Evapo-Rust probably just ate it over the three years, just like it was ordinary red rust. That it all dried out means that it didn't re-rust, except for one or two exposed areas that weren't covered in dried-out goo.

I love that evap-o-rust stuff. And yes even in black goo form it Will still work when reconstituted with water, I'm sure deionized is best. So have we figured out why it will eat magnesium?

Evapo is composed of primarily Water, and lesser amounts of EDTA, a synthetic Iron Molecule, and a form of sulphur exchanging agent within a detergent. When you dry these ingredients to a play dough like state as long as there is an aqueous content it shall continue to remove oxides and do its job until it cannot complete an exogenous oxide transference. The mill scale is an accelerated black/gray sheath oxide that Evapo shall remove with time if it can break through, and look like you have sandblasted the part, though in this case there is no sand blasting texture because you have removed that oxide via targeted chemical means. So you are left with a completely nude steel surface that is relatively untouched (preserved), other than the pockets of "junk" that let more pure water and maybe some oxygen get to the steel (hence the pitting in spots). Also you can see the remainder of the mill scale coming off the surface of the steel like masking tape because it is bonded to this iron oxide sediment that can become incredibly dense and self adhered due to its general structure. Hope this helps.

This is a video I didn't know I needed. I've got a bucket of dried evaporust with a few metal bits in it. Actually it's been dried out even longer than your experiement. Didn't know whether to act like an archeologist and start digging chipping away to retrieve the parts in it, or add water and try to redissolve the evaporust. Wondered if the evaporust was even worth trying to save. After seeing this, it loks like I'll be pouring some water into that bucket and seeing what I can salvage.

I have been using molasses as my rust removal process. It works really well, but I have yet to leave anything in the solution much longer than 2 weeks as I have heard of issues beyond that. I do have a whole Cummins 6bt short block (rods, pistons and crank still in it) sitting in there. The whole motor was seized so I am just giving it a shot.