Rust in laundry porcelain tank

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Hello all!

My shop is located in the garage inside the house and is shared with the laundry area.
There, the only place where I can wash my hands is in the laundry's tank which is made ​​of white porcelain. Tha tank is about 600mm x 400mm.
So far so good. The problem is that following the washing of hands, small fragments of steel remain at the bottom and adhere to the walls of the tank causing rust. Next comes the rebuke of my wife and the use of a product for removing rust (which I suspect it also attacks the porcelain), until the next session in which everything repeats.
I have covered the bottom of the tank with a sponge in the hope that it retained the metal particles, already put at the bottom of the tank a plastic container, I've used the same vessel at the mouth of the tank, have used a powerful magnet to rub the hands and clothes …

The plastic container quickly becomes very rusty but the rust still appears in the tank. The magneto, although it catches some swarf, is not that much efficient.

Only I have this problem? Has anyone solved it? Does anyone have some idea on how to solve this?

Note: I used the help of Google Translator.

Best regards
Dias Costa

Edited By dcosta on 11/03/2012 12:46:15

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Hands washed in the laundry tank let swarf and cause rust

[Richard ParsonsParticipant @richardparsons61721]

Dcosta Hi Rust is a form of iron. It is not very soluble (it does not dissolve easily in water). Providing your porcelain few metal fittings I would get an inorganic acid preferably 10-15% hydrochloric acid (HCl). Be careful with it. I suspect that your wife maybe using a caustic substance. Normally inorganic acids (except Hydrofluoric acid) will not damage the glaze on porcelain but caustics (NaOH) will. Why not do what I used to do in my shed I had special basin made out of a 5 litre plastic soap container with the side cut out

regards

Dick

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

Hi Dias,

If you use a waterless hand cleaner with paper towels first, away from the sink, then wash your hands with soap and water in the sink, most of the iron will stay out of the sink.

I don't know the available brands of hand cleaner where you are, but Swarfega is a good one as well as GoJo and Motomaster here in North America.

Try and find one with lanolin, it keeps your hands in better shape than others.

Good Luck, JD

[SteambuffParticipant @steambuff]

Why not buy a plastic washing-up bowl (or a bucket), place this in your sink and wash your hands in that. When you have finished, carry the bowl/bucket full of dirty water outside and tip it down the drain.

Dave

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I think we all have similar problems, I generally use a cheap plastic bowl in the sink. Also have the same sort of problems with clothes washing and drying. Never solved this one, except by washing all my clothes seperately from the rest of the household. Bits of swarf in the pyjamas is a small price to pay. Apologise for any spelling mistakes, the whole reply disapears when using spell-check.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Dias,

Why not wash the sink out after washing your hands in it? That's what I have to do to avoid the wrath of the senior management!

Plus, I'm banned from washing my hands in anythoing other than teh utility sink by the washing machine.

Neil

[John ClaytonParticipant @johnclayton30974]

I have a stainless steel sink, no problem.

[Robert DoddsParticipant @robertdodds43397]

Dias Costa

Your description of your sink leads me to think you have a Belfast sink, see google link below.

Twyfords, one of several makers, claim that they are impervious to stains and chemicals and only require soft cloth wipe down etc etc.

Sink Link

Consider returning the sink under complaint and what about keeping your hands out of the metal contaminants by wearing disposable gloves. It could prove that the staining is from your water supply or cleanser!

Bob D

 

Edited By David Clark 1 on 15/03/2012 09:30:29

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

The worst thing for leaving a mess in the sink is after machining cast iron, even in a stainless steel sink, I live on my own, so it's all my own problem. Ian S C

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Hello All!

Dick
Thank You.
Usually I remove the rust using a de-rusting product from HG containing phosphor acid. In some persistent spots I use a few drops of a cloth's rust stain remover containing hydrofluoric acid.
I'll use Your idea of a container with one side cut off to 30 or 40mm from bottom.

JD
Thank You.
I use to clean my hands with Swarfega but never occurred to me to clean the hands with a paper
towel before washing the hands using water and some soap good for my hands.

Dave
Thank You.
I tried Your idea before. But, because the only other sink I have in the place is on the floor and it's too small, I always spilled most of the water out of it. After a few months using it, now I have a white plastic container with its bottom covered with a thick, ugly, layer of rust.

Gordon
Thank You.
When working in the shop, generally I use cloths which are old (trousers, jersey, shoes) and sometimes I put a dark blue apron over it. So the rest of my clothes need not be washed separately.
The shoes I use in the workshop have sponge soles. The reason is, swarf is easier to remove with a file card and the most stubborn particles, if visible, may be removed with tweezers. Part of the floor in my house is made of limestone and the swarf scratches it.

Neil
Thank You.
I do clean the sink after cleaning my hands. But no mater the quantity of water I use
to clean the sink, sooner or later the very small spots of rust show their ugly faces.

John
Thank You.
Lucky You!

Bob D
Thank You.
I'm sure the problem is not in the sink. If I keep out of the workshop for a while the rust doesn't show in the sink.

Ian
Thank You.
However the problem is still there. Or isn't it?

Note: in some parts of this message I've used Google translator.

Best regards
Dias Costa

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Neil
Thank You.
I do clean the sink after cleaning my hands. But no mater the quantity of water I use
to clean the sink, sooner or later the very small spots of rust show their ugly faces.

Dias,

When the worst happens to me, I tell my wife it's coffee grounds from her cappuccion machine.

Neil

[TerrydParticipant @terryd72465]

Posted by dcosta on 15/03/2012 11:41:06:

Hello All!

……………………………

The shoes I use in the workshop have sponge soles. The reason is, swarf is easier to remove with a file card and the most stubborn particles, if visible, may be removed with tweezers. Part of the floor in my house is made of limestone and the swarf scratches it.
…………..

Best regards
Dias Costa

Hi Dias,

We never wear my outdoor shoes in the house, whether I have been in the workshop or not. When I think of what footpath dirt consists of in terms of dried, dessicated animal faeces and insect remains I could not envisage carrying it into my home on my shoes. Swarf would be the least of my worries!

Yuk!

Terry

[dcostaParticipant @dcosta]

Posted by Terryd on 15/03/2012 21:42:33:

Hi Dias,

We never wear my outdoor shoes in the house, whether I have been in the workshop or not. When I think of what footpath dirt consists of in terms of dried, dessicated animal faeces and insect remains I could not envisage carrying it into my home on my shoes. Swarf would be the least of my worries!

Yuk!

Terry

Hello Terry.

My workshop is located in the garage which is in the ground floor of my house. So we move to and from the garage to the other parts of the house indistinctly by the internal stairs. And once we don't keep animals in house so that risk doesn't exist. What is visible by now is that the steps in the limestone stairs are covered with some kind of varnish which is already corroded (probably with the help of swarf…).

Best regards

Dias Costa

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

I keep an old pair of shoes, with laces removed, in the covered area bewteen our utility room and my workshop. I'm quite adept at popping them on and off in total darkness.

Neil

[LordedmondParticipant @lordedmond]

cilit bang will shift the rust stains as will citric acid dont ask how i know

the dry acid salts from chronos will do an even better job

Stuart

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