Rust doesn’t look good, and sometimes enough rust can cause your tools to stop working, or at least, work less well. Rust can also be a pain to remove, and if you are rich enough to just toss the rusted tools out and buy more, then you have no issues! Unfortunately, not many of us have that luxury.
In this article, we will look at what rust is, and what creates it, and how to prevent it from happening. We will then provide different ways you can remove rust from metal.
We will start with some household remedies before we move to some items you may want to buy to help you do the removal, in case you do need some help.
What Is Rust and What Causes It?
I think we all know from experience that rust comes when metal is wet, but what actually is it and how does it occur? Rust is a corrosion that occurs as a result of oxidation or reduction of oxygen and moisture on metal surfaces.
In addition to moisture and oxygen in the air, rust is a function of the metal that it is forming on. The rusting process starts when moisture in the air (condensation) combines with a surface of iron and is oxidized by oxygen in the air; this process occurs and is affected by temperature and humidity.
Iron, in particular, reacts with water and oxygen to create increasing chemical reactions, which if not dealt with, will corrode the metal to the point where it falls apart. Rust can exist on copper, aluminum, stainless steel, brass, and many more metals – but gold and platinum are safe.
How Do You Prevent Rust?
Most of us think about rust when it is present, but as the saying goes for most things prevention is better than cure, so let’s have a quick look at a few steps and best practices to avoid rust in the first place.
- Keep it dry: If you can keep your metal in a shaded outdoor area or even inside out of the rain and humid areas, it will help avoid oxidation and therefore rust.
- Keep it clean: Keeping metal clean is a key factor in preventing corrosion and rust.
- Add a protective coating: Adding a protective coating to your metal is a good way to prohibit the oxygen getting to the steel, as the water will only get into the coating.
- Avoid cracks or scratches: Having cracks or scratches in the steel allows moisture to get further inside the metal and is harder to recover, so try and keep your metal crack and scratch free!
Homemade Remedies To Remove Rust?
Before looking into commercial products for rust removal, you may want to try some homemade solutions that mostly consist of things you probably already have laying around your home.
Baking Soda
This works on lighter rusts such as those on flimsy metals or light rust rings. Rinse and shake dry the area you’re working on. Dust the rusted spots with baking soda and leave to sit for one hour. Use the steel wool or wire brush to scour the area and use as much force as you can. Then rinse and dry.
Vinegar
If your tools are heavily rusted, and you’re able to submerge them without affecting any of the other surfaces then a vinegar bath is a good option for rust removal. Submerge your rusty implement in white vinegar and leave overnight.
Then scour using steel wool or metal brush as you did with the baking soda. If you’re unable to submerge the item, wrap the rusted area in vinegar soaked rags.
Potatoes
Raw white potatoes have oxalic acid, making them a great natural rust remover when combined with a gentle abrasive such as salt or baking soda as mentioned above.
Simply slice the potato in half and sprinkle salt or baking soda on the open half. Then, rub the cut side on the rusted area. If you don’t have baking soda, dish soap should be effective just the same.
If you have rusty knives, you can sometimes get rid of the rust well by taking the knife and plunging it into a potato and leaving it there for a couple of hours. We don’t recommend eating the potato afterwards.
Lemon Juice Paste
For rust that is particularly stubborn, citric acid may be the way to go. Make a paste using two parts baking soda and one part lemon juice, and apply the paste to the rusty area, using a sponge, and let sit for at least 30 minutes. Use a brush or steel wool to scrub the rust off the metal.
Onions
The common onion, too, can be a useful ally when removing rust from metal. Onions have amino acid sulfoxides, which produce sulfenic acid when they are exposed to oxygen. That sulfenic acid works to break down rust.
Cut off a piece of onion and scrub the rusted area with the onion. If the metal object you are trying to remove rust from is a stainless-steel knife, then simply running the knife through an onion will likely be effective in getting the rust off.
Diesel
It is also possible to remove rust from metal with diesel. Take a liter of diesel, pour it in a can, and soak your rusty tools in the can of diesel for a day. Remove the tool and then scrub with a brush or steel wool.
Coca-Cola
If none of the options above are at your disposal but you have some Coca-Cola on hand, that works as well. Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid, a common rust-removal ingredient, and it can remove rust from a surprising number of objects, although it will take considerable time since the actual amount of phosphoric acid it contains is relatively low.
One downside to using Coca-Cola is that the item or tool you’re working on will be very sticky, so you’ll have to wash it thoroughly afterward.
The above suggestions should be more than useful for most kinds of rust, but if you’ve still had no luck at getting rid of the rust, you might have to consider some items you can purchase on the shelf.
Products For Rust Removal?
The household solutions are very useful products in their own right and can work well, but they usually require soaking and leaving the area rusted for some period of time before the rust can be removed.
So if you’re in a real hurry, maybe some of the products that can be purchased commercially are a better solution.
Chemicals Remover
Chemical removers will dissolve the rust using phosphoric or oxalic acid solutions, which may be concentrated enough to harm the skin, so you should prepare by wearing gloves.
Remember, however, that aggressive solutions like this should not be used on delicate surfaces or appliances as they may cause damage.
Rust Converters
Instead of removing rust, the converter reacts with the rust that exists and prevents additional rust from forming, like spray paint Primer for coatings of paint.
Since the rust does not get removed, but only held in place and prevented from forming more rust, a rust converter is a good choice if you wish to paint your metal tools or parts after getting rid of rust.
Powder Cleansers
Powder cleansers, like “Bar Keepers Friend”, are soft enough to not damage the surfaces but hard enough to remove areas of significant rust.
Generally, when the powder is sprinkled on wet surfaces, the stain is removed, using oxalic acid in the powder cleaning solution which breaks up the stain. For more stubborn rust, larger amounts of powder and water can be mixed into a paste.
You can use the spray setting for spot rust, or the foam setting for larger areas.
Citric Acid Powders
This works in the same way as the lemons talked about in “homemade remedies”, but offers the ease of making a more concentrated mixture.
Pick up a small box of citric acid powder from your grocery store, (it is typically in the baking aisle), scoop some of the acid powder into a plastic mixing container, add just enough hot water to cover your metal part or tool you wish to remove rust with.
Place the part or tool into the citric acid and water combination. Let it sit and when you wake up, simply rinse the tool or part with water as the rust will have come off the metal.
Just Add Elbow Grease
As we have covered in this post, there are a myriad of different methods tackling rust in metal and the method you will choose will depend on different factors such as how much time you have, how big a portion is rusted and what you happen to have on hand.
It is important to remember that since these methods are different ways of breaking down the rust, you still need to be prepared to engage in some elbow grease when you will be using a metal brush or steel wool to remove all the rust.
What have you found to be the most successful way to get rid of rust? Do you know of a way to do this besides the methods listed in this post? Let us know in the comment section.
What is the Best Way to Remove Rust from Large Metal Objects?
The easiest and best way to remove rust from a large metal object is really determined by the shape and size of the metal object.
If you do have a large metal object, and a large tub or bucket big enough for the object to be stored in, then the best means of removing rust would be to soak the metal in a rust dissolving solution, such as, but not limited to, any of the rust removing solutions mentioned above.
Yes, any of those solutions will yield the best results. The only problem is that your object may be too large for any being to be soaked into a bucket or tub.
If the metal object that you are removing rust from is curved and can hold some liquid then you may still be soaking it by pouring the solution over the metal.
However, if the metal object is simply just far too large and awkward to soak or hold liquid then really the only option you have is something like grinder or sandpaper.
What is the Best Way to Remove Rust from Painted Metal?
The best method for removing rust from painted metal objects is to mix 1/2 cup of baking soda, 1/4 cup of vinegar and some water to make a paste.
Then you would cover your object made of rust in the paste and let sit for about 15 mins, scrub with a toothbrush, reapply the solution, let it sit for a few more hours, and scrub away.