Remove surface rust on chrome with aluminum foil

[astroracer]

My wife picked up a couple of Wassily chairs at an antique mall a while ago. Chrome and leather. The leather was old, brittle and broken and the chrome was covered with surface rust. We pulled one apart and took the leathers to a shop to have remade. While that was being done I had to get the chrome cleaned up enough to be passible.
I had heard and saw on YouTube about using Coke and aluminum foil to clean rust off chrome so I decided to give it a shot. I used metal cleaner in place of the Coke but it worked like a charm and you would never know how badly these chairs were rusted.
A couple pics of the rust.

What I used to clean it off. Cheap Dollar Store aluminum foil and Eagle metal Cleaner. I would imagine ANY cleaner or polish would work.

Getting to it. I used just a little cleaner on the ball of foil. Just enough to lube the foil.
After a few seconds of scrubbing. All that's left is the real heavy stuff.

This took some work to get off BUT, it came off and left the chrome sparkling!

Working on the rest of the frame.

Compare. Before and after.

The frames all cleaned up. This took a couple of hours and about three feet of aluminum foil but it was well worth it.

The new leathers. The gentleman who made these used bridle leather. they look great!

The "new" chairs all assembled and ready to go.

Mark
Along with "devil cat" in the background...

 

[cgrutt]

Nice! I just used vinegar and aluminum foil on some pitted chrome and it did a decent job.

 

[Roberts210]

Coke has phosphoric acid in it--that's why it works so well to convert rust.

 

[toolmutt]

Very nice. Really like the leather.

 

[GasNSteering]

Wow. I never expected to see results that good. Have you tried it on areas where the chrome was worn and scratched vs rusty?

 

[astroracer]

Wow. I never expected to see results that good. Have you tried it on areas where the chrome was worn and scratched vs rusty?

Yes, if the chrome is peeled, scratched or gouged the foil can't do anything about that. Removing the surface rust is about as good as it gets with this method/material. The aluminum is tougher then the rust but not as tough as the chrome so it doesn't scratch it like steel wool or ScotchBrite will. I was amazed it did as good as it did. Sure did bring these chairs back from the dead.
Mark

 

[greg9719]

Learned about aluminum foil vs. rust on my bicycle wheels when I was younger. Worked well back then.

 

[Kielbasavw]

Previous owner to my valiant used coke and aluminum foil to polish the bumpers..... it's not a great idea.

 

[PelicanPines]

Thanks for reminding me about this trick. Wife wanted to toss our sink drain board because of slight rust.

 

[Super Mech]

Great job on the rust removal. Those have to be the coolest chairs I have ever seen! Really nice.

 

[CudaChick1968]

DO NOT use that technique if the chrome is pitting, flaking or falling off. It'll do more damage than it'll help.

 

[astroracer]

DO NOT use that technique if the chrome is pitting, flaking or falling off. It'll do more damage than it'll help.

Agreed. Peeling, flaking chrome cannot be repaired with aluminum foil. That warrants a re-chrome. Then again, if the chrome is peeling and flaking any more "damage" is moot, don't you think?
This method worked perfectly on the surface rust plaguing the chairs. If you were to see them in person you would never know how bad they looked.
Mark

 

[Superbec]

so how long will it last?

 

[larry4406]

What function does the aluminum foil serve? A conformable non-abrasive abrasive?

 

[crackit]

What function does the aluminum foil serve? A conformable non-abrasive abrasive?

I think it functions as a scraper that won't mar steel or chrome.

 

[astroracer]

so how long will it last?

As long as we have the chairs I would imagine...
Keeping them in the house and cleaning once in a while with a good polish, they should outlast me. If they had been properly maintained in their original state the rust would never have been an issue.
Mark

 

[astroracer]

I think it functions as a scraper that won't mar steel or chrome.

What function does the aluminum foil serve? A conformable non-abrasive abrasive?

As far as I can tell that is how it works. The foil is harder then the rust but not as hard as the chrome so it scrapes off the surface rust without harming the chrome. I tried it dry and it worked to a point but the action was much better with the metal polish used as a lube. And the polish, along with a good wax after cleaning, will maintain the shine for long time.
Mark

 

[fatfillup]

Turned out nice.

I use real fine steel wool 000 and WD 40 or PB to clean sockets. Never noticed scratching.