Summary for bad rust removal Discussion
Need help removing bad rust is the core issue here: the questioner wants to restore a 1920s hand wrench, an old stove-top kettle, and a lock, but says CLR and sandpaper have not worked. Ed Kay advises first scraping off as much loose rust as possible, then continuing with CLR and sandpaper, noting that these methods should work unless the rust is heavily caked on. He adds that muriatic acid could also be tried for stubborn rust. Just as important, Ed warns that once the rust is removed, the bare metal should be coated with rust-preventive oil or another finish right away, because fresh rust can return quickly.
Q. I am trying to remove real bad rust on an old 1920’s hand wrench, a very old stove top kettle, and lock. I’ve tried
CLR
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
, sandpaper. And nothing works please help!
CLR
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
– North East, Pennsylvania, USA
2001
A. Try and scrape off as much of the rust off as you can.
CLR
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
and sandpaper should work, but maybe there is a lot of caked-up rust. You could also try muriatic acid
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link] , but CLR or sandpaper really should work if the rust is not too thick.
Tim Neveau
Rochester Hills, Michigan
A. CLR
⇦ on
or
Amazon [affil link]
[Cal / Rust / Lime Remover] is a rust remover (there are other brands out there) which have complexing agents which also dissolve hard water deposits, and remove some stains.
Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania
A. Mary,
I have cleaned an old stove top kettle by bead blasting (or sand blasting). Perhaps you could find a shop near you that does this. Most of the rust removers I know of will not get all the rust out of the rough surface. You might try “naval jelly
⇦ on
eBay or
Amazon [affil link]
“. Just make sure after you get the rust off to coat the metal with rust preventive oil or other finish to stop the return of more rust, which will not take too long as you will have very bare metal.
Good luck,
Ed Kay
– St. Louis, Missouri, USA