TIP Grab all those rusty tools and cast iron pots and DERUST them in a citric acid bath..

Citric acid which is the acid in lemons other citrus that give them a tartness is... safe (used in food, canning and cooking) is pretty cheap and you can buy on the net by the pound to quickly DERUST all that cast iron cookware and those tools(your son left out in the rain) which rusted and you thought were ruined.


http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/jThompson/restore/removeRust/

I've not tried this but I have used the "electrolytic" method with good results. I actually set up an 8' kiddie pool with the lye water and put the entire log splitter into the pool.

The net effect is similar to the citric acid in that the rust is converted from a brown or red rust to "black" rust which is able to be removed easily - or painted over.

Fair warning for either of these methods however. It leaves a metal/granular chemical boundary which is IDEAL for re-rusting of the part. You have to oil, paint, or plate the part to prevent the entrance of oxygen from the air and conversion of the black rust back into red rust, and rust which is worse than before.

See http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/rust/electrolytic_derusting.htm

Once de-rusted, you can keep your shovels and other tools in good shape by keeping a bucket of sand into which you've poured a quart of motor oil. When you're finished with the tool, just shove it down into the oily sand. It will clean and oil the metal at the same time.

Great stuff, thanks!

We're working through my in-laws' estate, and have lots of rusty tools to deal with.

good 'un......

OK, I had a pair of rusty pruning snips that I was a heartbeat from tossing out.

I tried this, using the juice of eight big old lemons off my tree diluted to 50% with water.

After 5 hours I looked at them and it worked like a charm!

I easily took of the remains with a scotchbright pad. Neutralized with a very mild baking soda solution and then rinsed for several minutes under running water. Right now they are drying at 145F in my dehydrator.

I'll lube them up as soon as they dry overnight.