Pickle X

Agree, absolutely, dry the metal as soon as possible with compressed air. If you don't have air you will have flash rerusting after rinsing the stripper off. CNKS uses the picklex and can tell you anything you want to know. I will add i use a rust remover to take off flash rust--oxisolv. Takes only minutes of wiping on flash rust, other heavy rust can take hrs of wetting. If you want the metal clean of flash rust oxisolv will do it, and you wipe it off with wax and grease remover. I haven't used it yet but from reading i believe picklex is good for long term storage before painting and could be used with oxisolv to remove flash rust than keep it off with picklex. I have found oxisolv will stop rerusting for about a week outdoors without rain and indoors indefinately. A while back, i/we discussed several of these products for bare metal and rusted metals. From reading websites and labels: Picklex is for preserving clean and lightly rusted metal before painting or welding and improves weld strength. Its intended market is dip tank operators. Ideal for bike builders, weld fabricators and tubing in a dip tank setting, gets the inside surfaces you can't get at. "kills rust" by encasing it and sealing it from moisture and air or removing it with acid assuming its all removed before the picklex drys. Advantage-one coat and your done---CNKS says it works so i won't say there is a disadvantage except higher cost than a remover or convertor like ospho. You get a Qt instead of a gallon for about $40. Oxisolv is a rust remover that works by removing rust with mild acid and replacing it with zinc phosphate. This coating prevents rerusting for a time and etches metal for paint. Disadvantage- hours of wetting or dip tank to remove heavy rust. Advantage--will remove all rust given time and is the fastest remover i have found--minutes on flash rust, and if you don't have faith in the next product or rust killers but don't want to blast this is the best choice. About $25 a gallon, makes navel jelly look like junk.
Ospho is a rust killer as well, but works somewhat differantly and is for heavier rust than picklex. The target market is ship builders bridge maintaince and marine industries. Auto restorers like it too. Not really for preserving bare metal until paint day. You remove all loose rust than brush or spray it on. They claim heavy rust may need 2 coats--so that leaves guess work. It too is a 1 or 2 coat application instead of hours of work/wetting required by the removers. Its suppose to work by conversion of the top layer of rust which stops the under lying rust from returning once primed and top coated. You than scuff it and paint it after its dry. Advantage-one or two coats and you can paint saving you hours of blasting or brushing or appying rust remover. ( assuming it works ) Disadvantage--doubt, could not find anyone who said i painted something 5 years ago and it hasn't rerusted. The popular and proven approach is to remove rust and you have solved the problem. Whats under the coating? Rust--rust that is not suppose to return due to the conversion of the top layer. We tried some than wire brushed it off and red rust was found under it. About $20 a gallon and a real break through in labor savings if it works. The jury's still out on it in MYO. Snake oil or Break through?

Others-rust paints. Por -15 seals off rust with a rock hard coating similar to fiberglass resin . Problems known--poor adhesion of top coats, special primer needed as a sealer thats suppose to help adhesion. Costly, $30 a qt plus primer and a rust remover/cleaner must be applied too (Marine clean)--more cost, Sun attacks it, must be top coated quickly or it degrades in sunlight. One board user complant of rust return on pickup bed after a month. Poor prep or product? Another brand Extend. Good report by Rob N.H. years without rust return (shed kept if i remember correct). When it first came out 20 plus years ago it was a latex paint--possiblely not compatable with all primers/top coats?