Best way to clean tools with surface rust? For cheap.
- Thread starter war
- Start date
PWC Repair
Well-known member
White vinegar or clr overnight works wonders.
So vinegar ok to use say on wood handles? anything?
marak
Well-known member
If you use vinegar (acetic acid), be sure to completely remove any residual vinegar from the metal pieces afterwards. The residual acid will promote rust. Use baking soda to neutralize the residual acid, or better yet, use Evaporust Remover, which is available at many auto parts stores and on Amazon. Fantastic stuff!
Should i only be using vinegar on metal? and ok for any metal?
marak
Well-known member
Vinegar is often used to clean many many different materials. I am not aware of places that it should not be used. It is not my preferred cleaner, though I always have a gallon or two sitting around. I tend to use Simple Green, Greased Lightning, Spray 9, and blue Dawn dish soap to name a few.
FredWanaker
Well-known member
depends what you are cleaning them of. Sometimes I tape the handles of things and glass bead them. Other things go into an ultrasonic bath. Some things get wiped with some carb cleaner sprayed onto an old towel fragment, Some things go in bluing afterwards to restore the color. Some things I take a file to clean the burrs off first. All depends on what it is.
Would it be ok to soak say an entire screwdriver handle and all in vinegar solution? Would it fade a handle color or eat away the markings on handle?
four.cycle
Well-known member
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Clean as in removing grease, derusting, or?
Mr. Wonderful
Well-known member
You didnt say what kind of tools so I'm assuming socket and wrenches etc. you also didnt say what you considered cheap. for me i bought an ultra sonic cleaner on amazon for less than $100. a little simple green and some water makes greasy dirty tools shine in under 15 min. all you do is dry them off after.
Thanks.
engineer2
Well-known member
I used vinegar on a rusty putty knife that was made of thin carbon steel. An overnight soak ate half the metal away.
Cleaning is easy. I use $ store LA's Awesome brand citrus cleaner. However, rust is another thing entirely. Like many, I've used naval jelly and other specific rust removers with good luck. As for 'on the cheap', vinegar and lemon juice concentrate works pretty well on bare steel (just be careful tho). Unfortunately, I've had vin and lem darken some chrome finishes if the tool is allowed to soak too long in it (i.e. more than 24 hrs).
PWC Repair
Well-known member
I used a 50/50 mix white vonegar and water and soaked a bunch of crusty old tools overnight. It didn't affect the pliers handles is all I can tell you.
I have learned to start with the most gentle methods, then step up from there. Dish Soap and stiff brush, then maybe a soak if needed. Then step up to something like purple power, the vinegar, then abrasives. Remember it's nearly impossible to go back once you've gone too far.
Light rust usually gets treated with 0000 steel wool and wd40, and then step up as needed with the steel wool.
Light rust usually gets treated with 0000 steel wool and wd40, and then step up as needed with the steel wool.
Leaflessshadetree
Well-known member
Used motor oil and a scotch brite pad. Then wipe done with an old rag.
Dan in Pasadena
Well-known member
I use phosphoric acid from Home Depot. It’s relatively cheap and gets cheaper when you realize you can reuse it over and over like I do. See below, but it works fantastic. Sorry no “Before” pic of those loppers but they'd sat outoors (my bad!) for years. Were crusty. Put them in and overnight came out exactly as you see - clean as new, nice finish too.
Lots of suggestions above and all will work. If your worried about what the reaction to the handles and aluminium parts I would suggest that you drop by the second hand store/junk shop and grab a few cheap/bent/broken tools that you can test the methods with and what will work before you put your 'keepers' in the fluid.
lg
no neat sig line
lg
no neat sig line
bwringer
Well-known member
I think a gallon of Evapo-Rust would be worth the investment in this situation. It's pretty much inert with other metals, plastic, rubber, etc.
It can't remove sound steel like all the acids (you can leave the tool in the solution as long as you want), and it can't cause corrosion, so you don't have to be as scrupulously thorough rinsing it off. Plus, the wood handles would soak up and retain acid, so it would be very difficult to neutralize that.
Like any water-based solution, Evapo-Rust could soak into wood, of course. Maybe you could suspend the tools with the handles outside the solution. Evapo-Rust doesn't smell or give off dangerous vapors, and isn't dangerous to your skin, so you could easily do this in the kitchen.
I know the OP wanted cheap, but this would be a good example of a time when cheap isn't frugal.
It can't remove sound steel like all the acids (you can leave the tool in the solution as long as you want), and it can't cause corrosion, so you don't have to be as scrupulously thorough rinsing it off. Plus, the wood handles would soak up and retain acid, so it would be very difficult to neutralize that.
Like any water-based solution, Evapo-Rust could soak into wood, of course. Maybe you could suspend the tools with the handles outside the solution. Evapo-Rust doesn't smell or give off dangerous vapors, and isn't dangerous to your skin, so you could easily do this in the kitchen.
I know the OP wanted cheap, but this would be a good example of a time when cheap isn't frugal.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
If is very light surface rust, steel wool and elbow grease.
nadogail
Well-known member
We used to go to the Ships Cook for Vinegar to wipe down new galvanized metal prior to painting.
ZRX61
Well-known member
Start with #0000 steel wool. Escalate from there.
Furylee
Member
nadogail
Well-known member
Very Fine steel wool and light oil.
RAS61
Well-known member
genesound
New member
Metal Rescue, Evaporust, Rusteco are non-acid rust removers, and are environmentally good, no special disposing required if there is only rust in it (no oil or grease).
Hopey
Well-known member
Food grade citric acid from Amazon. You get a 1lb bag for about $12. Add one cup to 1- 2 gallons water depending upon how rusty the tools are.
Bondo
Well-known member
Had tools stored in a craftsman roller cabinet in an unheated shed. Left the drawers open on occasion, and had some condensation and flash rust. The tools also had varying degrees of dirt and grease buildup after years of use and storage.
Took a 3 gallon plastic tote, and added hot water, Dawn dish liquid and white vinegar, then added the contents of each drawer, soaked them overnight, and cleaned with a stiff plastic brush, rinsed in hot water, and wiped the tools dry, using compressed air to dry the areas that couldn't be reached with the rags. finally followed with a WD40 soaked rag to prevent reflashing of the rust.
Resulting outcome was that most of the tools looked like new, with the rust, dirt, grease and grime removed.
After building the garage, I upgraded to a HF44 toolbox, and spent some coin on socket holders, wrench and pliers holders, and some rubbermaid silverware drawer bins from Walmart. The toolbox, while not yet quite the way I want it, is much more organized, and clean.
I highly recommend the vinegar/dawn/hot water soak, YMMV.
Took a 3 gallon plastic tote, and added hot water, Dawn dish liquid and white vinegar, then added the contents of each drawer, soaked them overnight, and cleaned with a stiff plastic brush, rinsed in hot water, and wiped the tools dry, using compressed air to dry the areas that couldn't be reached with the rags. finally followed with a WD40 soaked rag to prevent reflashing of the rust.
Resulting outcome was that most of the tools looked like new, with the rust, dirt, grease and grime removed.
After building the garage, I upgraded to a HF44 toolbox, and spent some coin on socket holders, wrench and pliers holders, and some rubbermaid silverware drawer bins from Walmart. The toolbox, while not yet quite the way I want it, is much more organized, and clean.
I highly recommend the vinegar/dawn/hot water soak, YMMV.
I start the cleanup with scotchbrite pads on a baldor buffer. Removes rust in seconds. So freaking easy and fast. Heavily pitted rusting might require an additional liquid soak for the pitting. But the Baldor does an amazing job without marring the metal itself. I follow with a wipe down with a cloth with light oil.
I vote for power tools too. A wire wheel on a bench grinder or angle grinder will clean off rust in seconds and leave perfectly usable tools. If you're going for total restoration and polishing then the acid soak works great, but it's a lot of trouble and slow if you're just going for good enough.