Remove heavy rust stain from our well water from house siding?

The22202367
by The22202367
We watered our garden from our well water (we don't drink the water) and it made a heavy rust stain on our siding. We have bacterial iron in the water. Is there a safe solution we can make to remove the stain without killing plants and hurting the environment?
  5 answers
  • You can use white vinegar to remove water, mineral deposits, and rust on nearly everything. Try it on your siding. And only use the white vinegar as it's the strongest.

  • Table vinegar, either white or apple cider is typically 5% acidity. "Cleaning vinegar" is typically 6% acidity - yes that 1% makes a difference. And "agricultural vinegar" is 10% - 20% acidity, (not recommended for this project.) Make a paste with vinegar and baking soda and scrub away, and rinse immediately. Cover your plants and have a hose ready as vinegar will kill anything it comes in contact with - hence the paste and immediate rinsing, less liklihood of harming your plants. Do a test patch first, then proceed.


    If not too bad, Dawn original and a scrubbie sponge might work too.


    Good luck! Fingers crossed to you.

  • And1639926 And1639926 on Jun 19, 2017

    Maybe CLR cleaner would work.

  • You could try vinegar and baking soda, but honestly, vinegar will kill all the plants nearby. I use it as a weed killer, but it's non toxic for you, so cover the ground with plastic and rinse well and quickly.

  • Mogie Mogie on Jun 02, 2023

    White vinegar and lemon juice — which contain acetic acid and citric acid, respectively — can help remove rust from vinyl siding. Since they're natural ingredients, they're also safe to use. For your cleaning solution, mix ½ cup white vinegar (or lemon juice) with ¼ cup baking soda and 1 gallon of warm water.