Removing rust stains in Iroko decks

chrisarcher

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Hello All,
This winter I am going to carry out a general tidy up and repairs to the decks on my Greek motorsailer. In some areas, by the capstan and mast bases for instance, there are some small rust stains in the decks (been there for some time by the looks of them) that I would like to try and remove.
The wood is iroko and the decking is half an inch thick, laid on pine planking. Does anyone have any suggestions please.??

Many thanks for your time,
Chris
 

Woodlouse

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You could try oxalic acid. Not entirely sure how affective it is on iroko though. Failing that I've heard that some of those carpet stain remover spraygun things (such as 'vanish') work quite well on wood.
 

tcm

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If it is a raw wood, then you can use 2-part teak cleaner, which works just the same on iroko as on teak. the stuff from wessex chemical factors (google) is good. Use stronger concentration and more muscle power on the rusty areas. The key is to get the wood looking homogenous dark (near black) colour with part 1 - the part 2 bleaches it back. You may need repeated applications for really stubborn stuff but rust will come out.
 

chrisarcher

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Thanks for the information. The deck is just raw wood as far as I can tell. My plan is to clean it,repair where needed and re seal the joints where needed ( quite a lot to do ).
Is the oxalic acid available as a product with a trade name or would I just ask for it as oxalic acid?

I will look into the Wessex chemicals products and see what is best suited.

Many thanks.
 

Matrosen

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In Spain we use Agua Fuerte (Strong water) available from supermarkets at about 60 cents a litre. It is hydrochloric acid! It will certainly remove rust marks and (after reading your post) I put some on some bare Iroko as a test. 24 hours later it was dry and no stain or damage. I offer no guarantees though!!
 

Woodlouse

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Oxalic acid is avaliable under several trade names. Infact, the second part of TCMs teak cleaner is almost certainly going to be it. However, with a trade name, comes a much increased price tag. If it comes as a powder in a pot with Oxalic Acid on the front then it will be quite cheap. Then you just add it to warm water and apply.
 
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