Cleaning up some old tools.

[240SX]

I've decided to try and clean the rust off of some old tools that I have. I just put them in a simple green bath to degrease them. How long should I keep them in there?


The next step will be to soak them in a molasses solution. I'm using regular kitchen molasses that I bought at Walmart. I've read a couple of different mixture ratios, from 4:1 water to molasses to 10:1. What's the proper ratio?

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[ZRX61]

10:1

 

[CutterFarms]

Never heard of soaking in molasses. Huh guess it tastes better than atf

 

[jakemac]

Q : How long to soak in Simple Green ?
A : It depends on how heavy the grease is.

If it's only a light coat of grease and oil from your hands, then you could have pulled them out by the time you finished typing your post.
If the tools are heavily coated with decades of grime, it may take longer.

 

[zcbauer89]

I've had excellent results from soaking things in white vinegar for getting rust off. I can't help with the Simple Green though.

 

[RogueFab]

I've never heard of the molasses or vinegar. I might try that. Reverse electrolysis with an old battery charger works great.

 

[bubinga]

Don't forget your part in the vinegar for a month or more.
DAMHIKT

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[240SX]

I've heard that vinegar can be a bit too corrosive if you leave the part in there a little bit too long, it'll start eating the chrome.

From some of the posts I've read, the molasses is compared to using Evapo-Rust, it just takes a lot longer. Evapo-Rust isn't common around here so I figured I'd try the molasses first.

 

[J-Alfredo]

Just keep it for 30 minutes, it will be more than enough

 

[240SX]

Just keep it for 30 minutes, it will be more than enough

Thanks man, I actually put these in last night and left them there. I'll take them out when I get home this evening after work. Should be good and degreased by then, haha.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

A little scrubbing/wiping really accelerates the process.

 

[240SX]

Well after the simple green bath I'm shocked at how clean my wrenches came. The Indestro ones aren't as bad as I thought. Anyways I rinsed them off and they're now in the molasses. They shouldn't take long but my heavily rusted snail wrench I expect will take some time. I've got another batch of wrenches, sockets and ratchet accessories in the simple green now.

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[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

I need to do this for some tools I'm disappointed with myself by not taking care of them. I cannot decided between the electrolysis method, the vinegar method, molassus, or there was a rusty tools cleaning solution on Amazon that seemed promising. I may start with the vinegar solution because it is the cheapest.

 

[gdocktor3]

Found these today. Hit them with wire wheel and some "knock'r loose". Now they're soaking in some oil. Already got the jaws moving. I'll get them working again.

 

[7th Kahuna]

I need to do this for some tools I'm disappointed with myself by not taking care of them. I cannot decided between the electrolysis method, the vinegar method, molassus, or there was a rusty tools cleaning solution on Amazon that seemed promising. I may start with the vinegar solution because it is the cheapest.

Really depends on how bad the item is and what it was constructed of. I've had really good luck with vinegar. I'm trying to make up my mind if I like apple cider vinegar or white vinegar best. My initial, very unscientific thought is that apple cider vinegar mixed with iron smells worse than white, but the apple cider vinegar seems to provide a bit of protection against flash rust that white does not. Could be my imagination.

I have plans to build an electrolysis tank for some larger, more damaged tools on my 'to do' list but haven't gotten there yet.

For cleaning minor rust off chrome, one option not mentioned is to spray it with a bit of WD40 or other light oil (even water works if you dry it quickly afterward) and then rub with crumpled aluminum foil. Works great on vintage bicycle rims. Unlike steel wool, it doesn't generally scratch.

 

[240SX]

Found these today. Hit them with wire wheel and some "knock'r loose". Now they're soaking in some oil. Already got the jaws moving. I'll get them working again.

I've got a couple of projects with the same amount of rust, looking forward to working on those too.

For cleaning minor rust off chrome, one option not mentioned is to spray it with a bit of WD40 or other light oil (even water works if you dry it quickly afterward) and then rub with crumpled aluminum foil. Works great on vintage bicycle rims. Unlike steel wool, it doesn't generally scratch.

I've never tried aluminum foil, I'm going to have to give that a go!

 

[240SX]

So after doing a bit more reading on the molasses method I've heard that the bath can get moldy. Since my daughters like to help me with EVERYTHING in the garage and one of them has a severe allergy to dust and mold, I'm going to have to switch to Evapo-Rust. Picking up some today on my lunch break, then I'll switch over tonight.

 

[240SX]

Can I put a ratchet in a simple green bath or will I need to treat it after?

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[JimRB]

Are you going to take apart the ratchet mechanism to dry and relube?

 

[240SX]

I'm thinking I'd have to.

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[240SX]

Also after using evapo-rust how do you guys usually oil your tools? Dump them in an oil bath or just spray on wd-40 and wipe clean?

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[dkroth]

Gdoc,

Those deserve a thread of their own. I'd like to see how far you can bring them back.

 

[gdocktor3]

Gdoc,

Those deserve a thread of their own. I'd like to see how far you can bring them back.

Lol I don't think it's that big of a deal? I've literally cleaned up dozens of tools like this. This might be the worst though. Here's a pic of it lightly cleaned up. I used the bench grinder with wire wheel on Thursday, then I soaked it with CRC and wrapped it up in paper towels and stuck it in a plastic bag. Although I work in maintenance, I just can't leave a rusty tool in a bowl soaking in oil on my desk on my day off. Today I came into work and after some pursuasion with some channellocks I got the adjuster bolt threading in and out. Then I had to lock 1/2 of the nose in a vice and open/close the jaws a little bit because they were sticking. Everything seems to work fine now. It's pitted quite badly, but I'll clean it up some more and keep em around. Unfortunately I'm going on vacation tomorrow so it will be a few days until I polish it off.