Letter 41759

Removing rust from chrome kitchen table  

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I have a vintage 1950's chrome leg kitchen table. One or two of the legs has localized rusting. What is the best way to remove the rust? Or restore the legs? Thanks so much.

Matt Jenks
- New York, NY

Try 5% ammonium citrate(mixture of 50 gm citric acid/1 lit water +add some ammonia,pH must be 3,5). Hope it helps and good luck!

Goran Budija
- Zagreb, Croatia

Chrome polish will remove the rust, and wax will deter rusting for a very short while. But the purpose of the original chrome plating was both decorative and to keep the air from reaching the steel of the table legs. Once the plating is perforated, rust is inevitible. If the table is of any value, real or sentimental, sending the legs to a plating shop for replating is the right answer. It's just not cheap.

Ted Mooney, P.E.  finishing.com Brick, New Jersey

Take a piece of regular household aluminum foil, fold it two or three times for thickness, wet it with a little water and scrub away! Have a soft rag handy to wipe away the residue that you're removing and to shine the chrome.

I was skeptical when I first heard this idea, but decided I didn't have anything to lose except a cheap piece of foil. I cleaned up my 'new' retro table in no time at all. It was almost miraculous. GOOD LUCK!

Marchelle Brown
- Centerville, Iowa, USA

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