In this study, the effects of laser power and cleaning speed on the surface macro- and micromorphology of Q235B carbon steel after the rust layer was cleaned with a continuous laser at 1080 nm, are investigated. Moreover, the effect of different process parameters on roughness is analyzed, and cross-sectional metallographic observations, element content, and compound analysis of the cleaned sample surface are carried out. From hardness test and electrochemical analysis, it is found that the minimum roughness of sample surface is 3.94 μm, and the laser cleaning effect is the best when the cleaning speed is constant at 100 mm·s^-1, laser power is 4 kW, Fe content is the highest, and O content is the lowest. When the laser power is constant at 7 kW, and the cleaning speed increases from 100 mm·s^-1 to 500 mm·s^-1, the surface roughness of the specimen first decreases and then increases. The minimum roughness is 3.68 μm when the cleaning speed is 400 mm·s^-1, at which time the laser can completely clean the rust layer in a single scan, and its cleaning efficiency is 20.6 m²·h^-1. A remelted layer is generated on the surface of the cleaned substrate, which improves the corrosion resistance of the substrate surface after cleaning the rust layer, and its hardness is approximately 4 times higher than that of the steel when the laser power is 7 kW and the cleaning speed is 100 mm·s^-1. A continuous rectangular spot laser cleaning model is created using Ansys software and its results are compared with the experimental results to determine the parameters and estimate their effects for the high power continuous laser cleaning process.