Rusty steel and Vinegar

[Mandelstam]

I've used white vinegar a few times on really old rusty steel and it never stops to amaze me how effective it is.

Today I wanted to clean an old pair of pliars I had that had some corrosion (not much though) on it. But I just wanted to bring out the steel color of it. I put it in a jar, covered it in vinegar and went out on an errand. When I came back I just scrubbed it lightly with some steel wool and it looks almost new.

Before


After



A couple of years ago I was walking along an old railroad that has been closed for fifty years near to where I live. I knew they were going to tear it up for a new housing project so I collected a pair of railroad spikes as mementos. They were just a pair of rusty lumps basically, swelled and crumbly from rust. I put them in vinegar for an hour and then scrubbed them with a toothbrush. After 5 minutes they didn't look to be 100 years old! I'm considering having them made into knives.



The only problem I've had with vinegar this far is that my wife sometimes yells from the kitchen "- Where is all the vinegar?! I swear we had a almost full bottle yesterday!"


/Karl

[jonathan.han]

I need to do a vinegar flush on my outboards come December. Could just bottle it up and add a fragrance as corrosion remover; could make millions.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Yep, a wise man once said when a reel is packed with sand or crummy, soak it in vinegar overnight and run it through the dishwater a few times and viola! Like new

[floating doc]

Vinegar; great stuff. I use it all the time to treat the pets.

[kamuwela]

treat them for what doc?

[floating doc]

Vinegar is mild acetic acid, kills yeast and bacteria, and toughens keratin (like toenails). For the chronic foot lickers, I have the pet owners dilute 50:50 with water, then spray the dog's feet twice daily.

It's good for cleaning skin folds, too.