Stainless steel can rust!

If you don't take care of it...

It is not uncommon for a customer to call and complain that the stainless steel we supplied is rusting very quickly!
After a quick investigation, we realise that the environment in which our equipment was installed was harsh.

The site was not finished and there was still a lot of work going on around it:
- Cement (dust)
- Cutting (tiles, structural steel, aluminium,...)

And this is the result:

customer photo

To prevent this from happening :

• Protect/cover the nets

• Install the stainless steel material last (avoids pollution deposits)

• Clean the dust that has been created very quickly (before the chemical bonding of the pollutants to the material) (water jet, Karcher, brushing with water + black soap, etc.)

Chemical explanation:

Stainless steel is stainless because it develops a very thin protective layer on its surface (as aluminium does perfectly).

External pollutants, if they are acidic, can eat this layer and then attack the bare material.
And in this case, it is the material of our metal that has developed a (very thin) rust film.
If this is your situation, you need to carry out a chemical action to remove this film and force the stainless steel to redevelop its protective layer: WICHINOX is the best product for this.

If the acid attack is not severe enough, it is the deposit of pollutants which itself rusts on the stainless steel. In this case, a wash can be sufficient (water jet, Karcher, brush + black soap...).

As for the stainless steel nets above, they were installed a long time before the end of the construction site, so there are many deposits of all kinds (cement, steel, aluminium).

On large surfaces, which are not easy to clean by hand, it is not possible to brush all the mesh of the nets! You can then try to make up for this by spraying water with oxalic acid (see the manufacturer's recommended dosage), leave it to act for a few minutes and rinse thoroughly. The operation can be repeated if necessary.

ATTENTION, check that nothing around the nets is likely to be stained by this acid!


Oxalic acid works well on mild rust (our case) and does not attack all materials (like hydrochloric acid for example).
It is used effectively as a dejaunizer on boats.


And during the life of your stainless steel, remember to clean it from time to time with a product adapted to the maintenance of stainless steel (a large number of serious products exist on the market).

photo of a competitor