Rust Removal by Diet Coke bath
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Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Rust Removal by Diet Coke bath
If you have rust spots coming through chrome as found on lever irons, old car bumpers ( buffers) bike wheels etc. You can remove it by rubbing with coke and aluminium foil. The foil is softer than the chrome so it wont scratch. works well on discoloured chrome plastic too.
An old clock makers trick for small rusty parts is to bathe them in strong tea. Yes, really. Put parts in container, cover with water and throw in a few tea bags. Leave over night. Wash off the black sludge. The rust spots will be black and the non rusty bits will have a grey sheen. The metal will not rust unless it gets wet. Moisture in the air and from hands will not affect it.
Hi,
Just to follow up, I tried the Citric Acid solution and found that to be far, far more effective than Diet Coke.
I put some wallpaper scissors in the solution that had been in a wet garden shed since 1967, and they came out looking amazing.
I’ll post some before and after photos once I have finished cleaning them up.
Darren.
Tenpin,
It’s been suggested to me, that acid cleaning parts prior to welding or brazing (I think that’s called bronze welding in the UK), will lead to weaker metal in the joint.
Having said this, it appears to be an issue at the margins, and based on all else equal. In practice, acid cleaning as welding prep, is not uncommon. Some people advocate drano prior to brazing tubes in a bid clue frame, as one example.
But assuming you aren’t welding or brazing your parts post cleaning, I don’t think acid cleaning will hurt.
In fact, I suspect the markings on old saw plates were acid etched. But this is pure conjecture on my part.
Cheers,
Rick G