# Oxalic acid on paint



## sm2501

Been fooling around with Oxalic acid, aka wood bleach. I cleaned up some rusty Schwinn S2 rims to amazing condition. I wish would have taken some before shots. Anyway, for kicks I took a Schwinn frame with a rusty white front end and soaked it overnight. Here are the before and after pics-


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## bike

*concentration?*

kiddie pool for a dunk tank?


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## sm2501

The package recommended 1/4 cup per gallon. Since I am poor at reading direction, I just dumped some in.

For rims I used a water tank pan-

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Camco-Polyethylene-Water-Heater-Drip-Pan-15275/100177492

For the frame, I just stuck the head in a 5 gallon bucket.


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

bike said:


> kiddie pool for a dunk tank?






Sure beats what I used today... Aka 0000 and rubbing compound with a hint of wd40... 



Still some yellowing... 
With the chemicals I guess no need to worry about erasing pins..! I need a shop


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## Obi-Wan Schwinnobi

Im going to go get some tonight for rear rim... Looks amazing Scott! Wow


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## rollfaster

*Nice results Scott...*

You've giving me hopes on cleaning up my 56 spitfire.


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## bike

*chemistry from highschool*

neutralize the acid after with a baking soda bath or I suspect if you just rinse it you will have rust bleeding back... 2c..


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## prewarkid

*Where to buy the stuff?!*

I spent my afternoon driving around in the OC looking for some acid with no luck.  While I was having lunch I was surfing eBay looking through bike stuff when I decided to search for the acid. I finished my lunch and went straight home.  eBay was my best source to find the stuff. There are multiple sellers slanging the stuff in different quantities to serve your needs.


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## rollfaster

*Oxilac acid*

Found some at my local ace hardware. Look for wood bleach.


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## cyclonecoaster.com

*Austin Hardwoods in Santa Ana is where I found mine ....*



prewarkid said:


> I spent my afternoon driving around in the OC looking for some acid with no luck.  While I was having lunch I was surfing eBay looking through bike stuff when I decided to search for the acid. I finished my lunch and went straight home.  eBay was my best source to find the stuff. There are multiple sellers slanging the stuff in different quantities to serve your needs.




Small tub looks like a small plastic container of drywall patch --- known as "Wood Bleach" -- white container 16 ounces or smaller with red & blue graphics -- as seen below -- DAP brand is another


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## SirMike1983

That Savogran is what I use. You can get it at paint stores like Benjamin Moore, Duron, Sherwin Williams, etc.


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## Jennifer Parker

Obi-Wan Schwinnobi said:


> Im going to go get some tonight for rear rim... Looks amazing Scott! Wow



If the spokes and nipples are still attached it can discolor the nipples. Use Vaseline or thick crisco like stuff on them.


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## Jennifer Parker

Oxalic acid won't hurt paint, and a residual dip after the first cleaning will keep flash rust away if you don't know if you need to do a round two in the acid. Worked great on my bikes, and no paint damage not even pin striping.


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## prewarkid

I just buy it by the pound.   





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## Jennifer Parker

prewarkid said:


> I just buy it by the pound.
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free




How much, and where, please?


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## prewarkid

eBay.  




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## Jennifer Parker

Thank you.


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## prewarkid

I personally wouldn't recommend the acid on painted parts.  I did a test on my forks and I noticed it took a lot of the paint off on the upper portion and discolored the paint from a brown to more of a pink color.  







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## SirMike1983

This thread has been misleading in some ways. All finishes respond differently to OA.  Also, remember that it "lifts" rust in a sense. If there is any corrosion/rust under the paint, it will lift that and thereby lift the paint with it. There is a more complete thread on this in this forum if you do a search. The more complete thread will detail some different results and contain more complete warnings about the use of OA. Read that before subjecting painted parts to the acid. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.


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## volksboy57

*sir mike is right*

I totally agree. I have used this on several bikes, and each had a different result. If you do use it, dont overdo it. The longer it sits in there, the worse it will get.
Also, the mixture starts off nice and clear, but then it develops a thick yellow nasty crust on top of the water. This crusty stuff gets all over everything.
I like to use C.L.R. on bikes instead. The downside to C.L.R. is that it will turn some metal bits (bearings, washers) black.


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## TammyN

I'd be nervous about using oxalic acid or anything acidic on red, brown or orange paint that's weathered or is fragile.  Those colors usually have red oxide pigment, which is iron(II)oxide. Rust is a form of iron(II)oxide so it seems like anything that chelates or sequesters rust could do the same with exposed paint pigment. That might be what happened to the part in the photo that turned pink-ish.


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## Arababindigo01

sm2501 said:


> Been fooling around with Oxalic acid, aka wood bleach. I cleaned up some rusty Schwinn S2 rims to amazing condition. I wish would have taken some before shots. Anyway, for kicks I took a Schwinn frame with a rusty white front end and soaked it overnight. Here are the before and after pics-
> 
> View attachment 560946
> View attachment 560947



Wow! That worked great! My only concern is paint loss for older bikes. I have a 1939 schwinn I would like to use oxalic acid on, but am afraid paint will come off. Thoughts?


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## New Mexico Brant

Arababindigo01 said:


> Wow! That worked great! My only concern is paint loss for older bikes. I have a 1939 schwinn I would like to use oxalic acid on, but am afraid paint will come off. Thoughts?



Any paint loss will only be minor; that will be at places that paint is already loose and the rust is stabilizing it.


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## tanksalot

This is oxalic acid Elgin Orile progress . I didn’t even know what color this bike was until I removed the badge ! When I saw it was grey I decided to try to see if it could be saved . I still have more detailing to do but I’m happy with the result so far .


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## catfish

tanksalot said:


> This is oxalic acid Elgin Orile progress . I didn’t even know what color this bike was until I removed the badge ! When I saw it was grey I decided to try to see if it could be saved . I still have more detailing to do but I’m happy with the result so far .
> 
> View attachment 1478813
> 
> View attachment 1478814



Nice work.


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