DIY rust removers

[Dirtman]

Im a big fan of a product called "corroseal" which is a rust reformer. It eats away rust and leaves a sort of black oxide finish to the metal. However like most rust remover/dissolver/reformer products it's rather expensive.

Curious if anyone has any homemade recipes for rust removal? A mix of vinegar and salt seems to do OK but anyone try any other concoctions?

I'm cleaning all my old junk tools and trying to find the easiest method to get rid of rust. So far I've got about 100 sockets soaking in vinegar and have a ton more sockets, wrenches, pliers etc. Simply cleaning them all by hand with a wire brush or sandpaper is just too much work.

 

[Snoranger]

C4H8Cl2S

 

[Dirtman]

My remaining arsenal from WW1 is pretty slim...

 

[duffy]

My favored product is something called "Overrust".....looks like chocolate milk and turns black and almost "porcelain" when dried/cured. Really a hard tough surface.......kind of pricey at about $20 a quart but a quart did the entire inside of a CJ7 tub with about a third left over.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Electrolysis.

 

[Dirtman]

Electrolysis.

Never messed with that. I remember @PetroleumJunkie412 made a setup once but cant find his post to how he did it.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I did a bit when I was building my race truck. Not sure if thread/posts came thru with the new forum software. Basically a DC source and baking soda in water. I cant remember if the tools need to be ground or positive. One of your welders would make a good power source. I used an old battery charger, not one of the newer smart ones.

 

[Dirtman]

Doubt any of my welders would work. Would need an old fashion transformer style welder. Mine are all IGBT inverters, the computer would just cut the current off if no arc was detected.

My chargers are all fancy smart chargers too.

Wondering if just a big deep cycle battery would do? I got plenty of them.

 

[Dirtman]

Vinegar isn't doing too bad so far. Only been a couple hours.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

You can fool the smart charger by putting a battery in the circuit.
And vinager works just fine if you're patient and doing small stuff.

 

[sgtsandman]

Coke is supposed to be a pretty good rust remover. The acid in the drink is the key. As far as the details, I can't say if the drink is the recommended product or just the straight syrup without the carbonized water.

 

[Dirtman]

Carbonated water is slightly acidic itself so I would imagine it could only help. Plus who wants to clean soda syrup off tools.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Evaporust works wonders on my lantern stuff.

 

[Dirtman]

Evaporust works wonders on my lantern stuff.

I used that stuff once. To be perfectly honest I found it only marginally more effective than vinegar.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I used that stuff once. To be perfectly honest I found it only marginally more effective than vinegar.

Before:



During:





After:



I didn't get pics but most of the "rust" that was still on the burner frame after soaking rinsed off with water. I stuck it in my unlit grill in the summer for an hour or two in the summer. Being in a black grille in the sun might have helped the process a little. I was very impressed with the stuff.