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Steve Spratt is the president/founder of HPS Palo Alto Inc Home Preservation Services and of Homepreservationmanual.com, a comprehensive and easy to use online manual for your home. His professional life is dedicated to providing resources and information to help people be better stewards of their own real estate property. He also enjoys outdoor photography, listening to Jazz music and riding horses. He can be reached at info@homepreservation.com LESS ... MORE

This stainless steel “passivation” treatment eliminates rust and corrosion

Nothing is sadder than expensive and once-gorgeous stainless steel that has been left to corrode in the elements.

Here is the process we use at HPS Palo Alto, Inc. to clean, polish and “passivate” exterior stainless steel architectural finishes. This is a labour extensive process but is quite effective at returning weathered stainless back to original glory.

Passivation is the term for a process of treating the surface of stainless steel so that it is less reactive to the elements. This reduces the likelihood of corrosion and rust.

If you are building new, the passivation treatment and follow-up maintenance should be a mandatory specification for any new stainless steel products and installations. Let your designers or architects know.

Do not use this process on stainless steel sheet material with factory machined finishes such as found on refrigerators and other household appliances. Always test first on an area that is out of sight or least exposed to be sure that it meets with your aesthetic requirements.

Step 1 First wash and scrub the metal with regular tap water and a Scotch Brite pad. This will remove dirt, dust, bird droppings and any accumulated surface residue.

Step 2 Next vigorously scrub the entire surfaces with fresh pads along with a mix of 2 parts phosphoric acid and 10 parts distilled water. Scrub the length of the metal parts and go with the “grain” not across it. Scrub until all rust and corrosion has been removed to your satisfaction. This is best done in small sections at a time. Heavily corroded and hard to access areas may need to be done several times.

Step 3 During the first step, apply Wichinox paste to any welds in the work area while the acid mix is still wet on the metal. The welds are the worst areas and the paste help to give the phosphoric acid longer to work its magic. Rinse off the acid mix from the rest of the work but leave the weld areas with paste for at least 15 minutes before rinsing.

Step 4 Mix baking soda and distilled water together in a ratio of about a box of soda to 5 gallons of water. Carefully wash all surfaces of the metal with the baking soda/water mix. This will completely neutralize any of the acid that may be left from the previous step. Scrub the welds if necessary with this mix using a clean toothbrush to remove all the paste. Rinse with a fresh batch of distilled water when done and allow to air dry.

Step 5 Wipe all metal surfaces with denatured alcohol and let dry. This removes all residue from prior steps including fingerprints, dust, oils, grease etc. and leaves the surface clean and ready for the sealer.

Step 6 When the surface is completely dry from the above step, and the appearance of the metal surface is completely satisfactory, then apply two coats of Everbrite Protectaclear sealer waiting 1 hour between coats.

The sealer is a wafer-thin molecular protectant and it is completely invisible. It will last in harsh conditions and direct sun for about 2 years and keep the steel looking new and shiny. After two years the sealer will begin to break down and the steel will again be exposed and vulnerable to corrosion. The manufacturer recommends that the metal be washed again, and a new coat of sealer applied every year. This way the bare steel is never again exposed to corrosion. The follow-up wash and re-coating work process go much faster than the initial treatment.

If you like your expensive metal trim looking like new, this is the only reliable and lasting way to accomplish it. Contact me with for questions or details

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Views expressed above are the author's own.

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