In the “non heating” months, we keep some plants on the mantle. Well, needless to say, they got watered yesterday… and some of that water inadvertantly spilled on the top of the front right door of my Kennebec. I didn’t discover it until the next day, after it had dried, but it left some slight rust staining / discoloration. Most of that wiped off with a rag, some of it is still there, and I don’t want to go any further with removal attempts until I get some advice. What I am left with is some (15 or so) small, pin head sized spots of light rust on the cast iron surface. There is absolutely no pitting, and the paint still seems to be all there (iron colored paint, basically dark gray).
So, how do I get rid of these pin spots from my otherwise perfect stove?
I don’t know where you would get “Jotul Iron” paint but here is what I do with rust on matte black ones. A little steel wool lightly used to remove the rust. Then spray the paint on a cotton rag and rub it on the spots.
Yeah, I don’t know if I can match the color perfectly, and I’d prefer not to repaint it. I was thinking that there has to be some chemical cleaner that dissolves iron oxide, like Bar Boy, or something along those lines. I’m going to look at it today again… meanwhile, if anyone else has any ideas, post away…
This might help, and again it might make it look worse so test in out of sight place or wherever it isn’t seen clearly with a tiny spot and if the tooth paste fails. You might be able to use a tad of NAVAL JELLY , the pink jelly thats been around forever or perhaps some DURO EXTEND which is similar. Dont be surprised if it leaves a completely clean to the metal spot in its wake either which looks worse than the rust spot you have now. My wife has created some electronic doozies putting her darned plants o top of things and drooling water all over into sensitive things. I feel your pain.
Try swabbing the spots with white vinegar. It’s a mild acid and will break down the oxide. If they are pin size spots a Q-tip or cotton ball to wet. Let stand 20-30- minute, wipe with a clean towel, or rag. There is a product that will do this instantaneously, Whink. Small plastic squeeze bottle (12oz.?). Brown flat plastic bottle, available in many grocery stores as a rust remover for fabrics. Won’t clean a rusty fender on the old Ford, but spot work, it’s great. Side note, did this happen over night? You may have some issues with the stove finish. Even raw iron will only surface rust, discolor, when dribbled on. Water evaporates too fast to do damage.
I like the oil idea, the vinegar idea, and the toothbrush idea. If that doesn’t work, the wife has a pile of Mr. Erasers that she insists on using everywhere. This week I’l give it a try. Naval Jelly, which I have, will definitely pull the paint off. As for the stove finish, its fine, the paint is even still there. I don’t even know if this rust is from the door, or from the bare metal behind the cast iron facade that got splattered on top of the stove. I just want it off… sounds pathetic, but I love my stove
I like the oil idea, the vinegar idea, and the toothbrush idea. If that doesn’t work, the wife has a pile of Mr. Erasers that she insists on using everywhere. This week I’l give it a try. Naval Jelly, which I have, will definitely pull the paint off. As for the stove finish, its fine, the paint is even still there. I don’t even know if this rust is from the door, or from the bare metal behind the cast iron facade that got splattered on top of the stove. I just want it off… sounds pathetic, but I love my stove
-- Mike
Rust will form on top of the paint. We put a Jotul matte black stove in the truck two days ahead of time for delivery a couple of weeks ago. The stove was new on the pallet and spotless. The day of delivery we opened the doors of the truck and damn near fainted. The doors were covered with surface rust. What happened was the stove was cold in the storage building, around 35 degrees, when we loaded it. The truck sat in the sun the next day closed up. The temp went up to around 70. Every bit of moisture inside that truck was sucked onto the stove like a vacuum cleaner since the heavy cast iron warmed up slower than anything else in the truck.
We sprayed stove paint on a rag and used it to wipe the rust off.
Phosphoric acid will convert the rust to a more stable zinc phosphate (or something like that). You can pick up metal prep (phosphoric containing) solutions at auto parts stores that sell automobile paint and supplies. PPG dx-579 comes to mind. KD
