The Hodaka Club Forum

a few years back i learned from a breif encounter with an old man a good trick for rust removal. like say, if you find an old rusty pocket knife you can soak it in vinegar for say 24-48 hours and then the rust will wipe right off.

it is a cool trick, works well. something to do with alkaline or acidic or PH or whatever; all i know is it works wonders on old rusty items- but, only at first!

next, i found that after doing this process to a rusty item, after the items have been soaked in vinegar, they look shiney new but become seriously rust prone.

so, i thought it would be a worthy topic to ask openly in perhaps this forum, does anyone here have some help for me on this topic?

i do understand rust https://rustconverters.net/metal-rescue-rust-remover/ as a corrosion process, and coatings ( paint, ect ) slow the process. i am no metalurgist and i often don't know what specifically certain items are made of. does anyone have suggestions?

thanks.

Rust is a process where ferrous metals and oxygen react in the presence of water to form iron oxide AKA rust. The protection from rust must include forming a barrier to exclude these two reagents from the metal surface. For motorcycles, oil, fuel, grease, and paint are the four most commonly applied barriers I can think of off the bat. The key is to apply one of them immediately after the de-rusting procedure is completed.

ANY remaining vinegar will propagate rapid re-rusting. Thorough rinsing is a vital. A quick dip in a baking soda/water solution would neutralize the acid quickly (ie, it would "use up" the acid so it won't "eat" the metal anymore). A thorough rinse after the baking soda dip is required. Then - as Matt mentioned - do something to protect/coat the bare/pitted/etched/thoroughly "clean" steel. For your pocket knife example, I'd use oil.
Ed

Good point Captain. I forgot to mention neutralizing the acid. I'd add that the aforementioned steps for rust stoppage, including thoroughly drying the metal before adding a protective barrier, need to happen sequentially AND quickly. I've had a Hodie toaster flash rust practically while I was looking at it.

For light rust, I still prefer water & aluminum foil. The aluminum is abrasive to the rust but not to chrome or other hard metals. Works every time for me.

The Captain is tight about using a baking soda solution to neutralize the vinegar, aka “acid,”. Neutralization is a sure way to prevent any further action of the acid. Victor