How to clean rusty nuts,bolts,washers??

[rkevins]

I have a bunch of nuts, bolts, washers that have been laying around in the floor of a old chicken house exposed to moisture and ammonia. I am trying to find a way to clean them up, any ideas on something to soak them in.
muriatic acid solution, lye and water, vinegar, citric acid, (that's just a list of some of the things I have around) any ideas would be a great help.
Thanks Kevin

 

[BJ42LX]

Evaporust is great for nuts and bolts. Just drop them in and come back a day or two later. Maybe brush with a stiff brush a couple times in between.

 

[Justin C]

I second the Evaporust works great and and safer to handle than acids.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I would suggest trying out the search function here on the forum - there are usually a couple discussions every week about different methods of rust removal.

Since you're talking about nuts and bolts, make sure you don't spend more time and money cleaning them up than they're worth.

 

[broman78]

drop them in diesel for a couple of days.

 

[jclem40c]

soak em in vinegar.

 

[dabirdguy]

I use a rock tumbler.

 

[cnc-me]

Sandblast....

 

[evintho]

Molasses........

 

[tatra]

stuart has the right advice..........pissed on bolts?........no thanx......

 

[425hp]

Vinegar and baking soda.

 

[The Hot Rod Grille]

I use a tumbler (the type used to polish shell casings). Several different types of media are available, depending on how abrasive the material must be to remove the oxidation/rust. Walnut shells does a nice job on most surfaces.

Jim

 

[G_P]

Electrolysis.

 

[Zeke]

Vinegar and baking soda.

Don't they tend to cancel each other?

I have always taken what I was going to use over to the bench grinder with a couple of wire wheels installed.

 

[Marmaduke]

I would say the nuts and bolts laying on a chicken coop floor for years are not worth the price of the cleaning fluid. Throw them out DAD

 

[camarotoolman]

I have boxes and boxes of old nut/bolts. But when I need one, I don't have the right one so I have to go buy one which ***** when its 8 mile to the store. Price of scrap is up rigt now...

 

[D.J.]

Please don't use the wire brush method. Don't forget about your friend histaplasmosis, you can loose about 40 pounds and think you are going to die along with fevers, profuse sweating even in cool weather! Just ask me how I know?
D.J.

 

[chickenfarmer]

A bucket of carb cleaner usually does the job

 

[70redbee]

Just throw them in a bucket of vinegar. When you take them out just wash them in water and baking soda. Or throw them away and buy new ones.

 

[slip knot]

Take them to your local scrap dealer. Buy what you need with the proceeds. Hardware is fairly cheap all things considered.

 

[mikec35]

I use a vibratory tumbler I bought from Harbor Freight- works great

 

[Zrexxer]

I would say the nuts and bolts laying on a chicken coop floor for years are not worth the price of the cleaning fluid.

THIS.

I'm always amazed at the great lengths people will go to to achieve false economy. Cleaning rusty hardware that's been laying on the floor of a henhouse caked in chickenshit? No way. I'd pay the price for little plastic bags of nuts at Home Cheapo before I did that.

 

[IH82BL8]

I have a tumbler from Eastwood--it *****. I've had to resort to wire wheel and sandblasting.

 

[rkevins]

THIS.

I'm always amazed at the great lengths people will go to to achieve false economy. Cleaning rusty hardware that's been laying on the floor of a henhouse caked in chickenshit? No way. I'd pay the price for little plastic bags of nuts at Home Cheapo before I did that.

Sorry for the confusion, I never said they were in the house when it was in use, it was shutdown and used as a shop and for storage the bolts nuts were laying on a tarp not on the floor but the remaining litter still causes amonia and will for years to come
Thanks to all who replied
Kevin

 

[brownbagg]

metal bucket, battery charger, piece of scrap metal, copper works good and some oxy clean

 

[oldgoaly]

old or cheap crock pot with molasess, only the rust gets eaten up. You will be surprised how well it works. only down side is when you rinse oil or metal prep/phosphoric acid or they flash rust in minutes.

 

[kyles974]

THIS.

I'm always amazed at the great lengths people will go to to achieve false economy. Cleaning rusty hardware that's been laying on the floor of a henhouse caked in chickenshit? No way. I'd pay the price for little plastic bags of nuts at Home Cheapo before I did that.

myself, I would clean them up if they were "good old metal" nuts and bolts.
.....have you ever priced a good quality nut and bolt? Grade 8?
we both don't know what grade these are, but just a thought

 

[Zeke]

Please don't use the wire brush method. Don't forget about your friend histaplasmosis (sic) , you can loose about 40 pounds and think you are going to die along with fevers, profuse sweating even in cool weather! Just ask me how I know?
D.J.

Histoplasmosis. Never heard of it os I looked it up. No, I guess I wouldn't wire wheel nuts and bolts from the bottom of a chicken coup. Histoplasmosis notwithstanding.

 

[35chevypu]

old or cheap crock pot with molasess, only the rust gets eaten up. You will be surprised how well it works. only down side is when you rinse oil or metal prep/phosphoric acid or they flash rust in minutes.

great! now the wives gonna wonder where the spare crock pot went and why did it end up in the garage.

 

[Zrexxer]

.....have you ever priced a good quality nut and bolt? Grade 8?

Yep, I have. I spent too long trying to make do with mismatched, rusty, discarded hardware. Now I've been buying good quality hardware for 20+ years, and it turns out it's always cheaper than the time it would take me to try and make do with someone else's castoffs.

Time is the most valuable asset I have. YMMV.

 

[93sr20det]

old or cheap crock pot with molasess, only the rust gets eaten up. You will be surprised how well it works. only down side is when you rinse oil or metal prep/phosphoric acid or they flash rust in minutes.

I use this same model crock pot with old antifreeze in it. I let my bolts simmer overnight then rinse them off and they turn out pretty good.

 

[dellwas]

Thanks for the tip, must give this a try...

old or cheap crock pot with molasess, only the rust gets eaten up. You will be surprised how well it works. only down side is when you rinse oil or metal prep/phosphoric acid or they flash rust in minutes.

I use this same model crock ot with old antifreeze in it. I let my bolts simmer overnight then rinse them off and they turn out pretty good.

 

[Lkdelta]

For a bucket of rusty chain...Carb cleaner or diesel?
Anybody got a preference or a favored way?

 

[knight]

Place them in a bucket of water, cover the lid, then let them rust out completely. Mix this iron-enriched water with fresh water, then feed your lawn and plants it. They love the iron and it's a lot cheaper than a $7 bag of Iron fertilizer. This is what I do with old rusting nails

 

[IH82BL8]

THIS.

I'm always amazed at the great lengths people will go to to achieve false economy. Cleaning rusty hardware that's been laying on the floor of a henhouse caked in chickenshit? No way. I'd pay the price for little plastic bags of nuts at Home Cheapo before I did that.

In my case I was rebuilding an engine, so I was having a lot of exterior brackets replated anyway. Yeah I would clean up a fastener that I could replace cheap.

 

[Quint]

Vinegar works well for me.
I've heard good things about the HF Ultrasonic cleaner too.