Care must be taken when using vinegar to remove rust from items that are/ were chrome or zinc plated. If left a day or so the vinegar will remove the zinc/ chrome plating. The problem is that there are carcinogenic elements used in both chroming and zinc plating and these will now be floating around in the vinegar/ rust soup. The most dangerous is the gold coloured plating with the slight rainbow/ oil-slick effect on the surface. This is called hexavalent chromate and it is highly carcinogenic to the point that it was banned in many countries. So, extreme care needs to be taken when disposing of the used vinegar and anything it has come in touch with it.
I have a whole socket set of Chrome Vanadium sockets that have some rust on them from when a cat got into my garage and peed on my sockets! and I had to take my sockets out in the rain while changing a water pump in a gas station parking lot a few days ago. Tools look like crap now! How would you recommend I safely get that nice chrome shine back?
Given solutions of 5% and 30% acetic acid in water (with a few impurities (more in the cider vinegar)) the 30% solution being 6 times stronger is bound to work faster & longer since it has more H+ ions to donate & less water getting in the way, however the weaker solutions should work just as well over a longer period (until exhausted) & warming to say 60 degrees Celsius will speed everything up; you could use litmus paper to show when each solution is exhausted.
Great video. My apologies if this has already been addressed in the comments, but it's important to neutralize the acetic acid after removing the rust, with a water-baking soda mixture. Once neutralized, dry with a towel or heat gun, then protect with WD-40.
@@brownbear992 I used baking soda mixed with water, quick scrub with steel wool, rinse, dry, my tools are fantastic. I did it this afternoon after watching this video and reading this comment.
All of these comments are great. I did find that after all of this is done that coating the tools in coconut oil really works awesome and it is supposed to be better than other oils.
I had two old iron skillets from the kitchen that i decided to use solely for camping. Both skillets had taken heavy surface rust from sitting in storage after a weekend camp. No pits or holes in the iron, and still a very sturdy, thick iron skillet, just heavy deep red oxidation. I poured 70/30 vinegar water into one skillet and let it sit about about 1 full day, then cleaned it. The iron was clean metal surface. For the other skillet i put the same mix but let it sit with about one inch of the vinegar cocktail for 5 or 6 days. The iron in the skillet seperated into layers like a stack of potato chips and broke in half, into several large chips as i dealt with it. Standard vinegar will penetrate 3/8 inch soft steel, iron if you let it sit soaking for several days... Dont underestimate regular household vinegar. Also, oxidation after vinegar soak increases very rapidly because it changes the chemical structure of effected areas of the metal. It must be painted within 48 hours, or the return of oxidation will be far worse than original state.
I’ve been using vinegar as a cleaner since early 90’s when I found out how fast it cut through the grime while cleaning my truck, it started as a class cleaner for me. Now I buy a couple boxes from Sam’s a month. I use it for the shower, toilet, windows, stainless sink and floors in the house. I also use it on almost everything outside, works really well instead of bleach on the facer boards and under hang, also on concrete. It’s my cheapest and safest cleaning product I have and never have to worry about if the dog tries to lick at it.
Great video! Didn't realize it cleaned up rust. I accidentally broke a jar of apple cider vinegar on my garage floor and boy did the concrete get real clean and white. Had a bottle of household vinegar freeze and get a hole and spill on the same floor in a different place and did an amazing job of cleaning again. I'm going to do some concrete cleaning this summer. Thanks!
Inherited a shed full of old tools, and learned a lot about using distilled vinigar. You leave it in at least 24 hours, take it out one tool at a time, the black sludge comes right off with water, the more pressure the better.
A couple of things worth adding: • The % tells us how much Acetic acid (vinegars "active ingredient") is present. Ex. 30% means 30% Acetic acid. ● The distilled white & apple cider would both be found in the same part of the grocery store, intended for food use. Their strength is 5% ● While the 30% would be found only online or hardware stores, most supermarkets will carry a 6% Cleaning vinegar. This will be found with the cleaning products, typically next to the Ammonia. ● The difference between 5% and 6% may sound tiny but it actually results in the cleaning vinegar being 20% more powerful than the regular distilled or apple cider in terms of cleaning power. Gives a better idea of just how strong the 30% industrial is. ● If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room, the color you'll see is called "eigengrau. ● Knowing these things, consider that you can easily buy 75% industrial vinegar on Amazon, its about 50 bucks a gallon but thats gotta be some strong shit. ● LeBron James grew up in Akron, OH and he had a rough childhood.
You do not yet know the difference between its and it's Besides wj=hich I have edited and corrected your text into a higher level of English Use it as an example and read more to improve your vocabulary - given that the US education system is the third-world and very low on the OECD standards - almost near the bottom end of the scale A couple of things worth adding: ● The % indicates how much Acetic acid (vinegars "active ingredient") is present. Ex. 30% means 30% Acetic acid. ● The distilled white & apple cider would both be found in the same part of the grocery store - intended for food use. Their strength is 5% ● While the 30% would be found only online or in hardware stores - most supermarkets will carry a 6% Cleaning vinegar. This will be found with the cleaning products - typically next to the Ammonia. ● The difference between 5% and 6% may sound tiny - however - it actually results in the vinegar being 20% more powerful than the regular distilled or apple cider vinegar in terms of cleaning performance. Gives a better idea of just how concentrated the 30% industrial is. ● If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room - the color you will see is known as "eigengrau. ● Knowing these things - consider that you can easily buy 75% industrial vinegar on Amazon - it's about 50 bucks a gallon but that has to be some strong shit. ● LeBron James grew up in Akron, OH and he had a rough childhood.
Good stuff . Important to note. Either rinse with warm water after cleaning or as a viewer commented neutralize the acidic level by dropping them in a baking soda and water bath
Another good rust removal video. I have used vinegar in motorcycle fuel tanks to get rid of significant surface rust. It works beautifully, HOWEVER, the fuel tank then requires flushing out with hot water. Upon emptying the hot water and immediately using a heat gun to dry it out you are left with light flash surface rust. Your vinegar pliers appeared to have surface rust also after your final rinse. What I did after flushing and drying my fuel tank was to use evaporust which reacts with the raw steel and keeps it from rusting after flushing out that material. The evaporust is saved and is good for multiple rounds of doing this process. I'll put up a video on my channel soon doing another RZ350 fuel tank.
You should ideally neutralize the acid immediately with a dunk in a high-ish PH solution to prevent this flash-rusting. Even though acid helps dissolve rust - acid also dramatically increases creation of new rust as soon as it contacts oxygen - so that's why the flash-rusting happens right out of the acid bath. Just a little baking soda (or washing soda, which is a bit higher PH) into water is fine, so it's easy and cheap to do - and these chemicals are not so basic that they are dangerous to touch as long as you wash your hands after. Of course this doesn't protect the surface long-term - it just brings rusting back to a baseline speed. Some sort of oiling or painting is needed to keep water and oxygen away or else it's just a matter of time before moisture in the air + oxygen creates new rust. I'm not sure what would be suitable for the inside of a gas-tank (probably not paint), but I can't imagine a light dusting of a thin rust inhibitor like original WD-40 would hurt. Other than that, just keep it really dry until it's sealed into a system for use. Also you may want to avoid using gasoline with added ethanol if you already have a tank that is prone to rust. Ethanol is hydrophilic (it sucks up moisture from the air), so in systems not designed for it (like many simple garden tools for example) it is wise to avoid. Ethanol additive is usually the standard now (and not a problem in cars designed for it), but you can usually get fuel without ethanol as a "premium" product that costs marginally more.
Did some research, reading MSDS/SDS sheets for all of the vinegar-based products at Lowes and HD. Found typical white distilled or apple cider vinegars run around 4-7% acetic acid, and "cleaning vinegar" runs around 5-10% acetic acid. I had to cover a 16" x 16" x 1/2" steel plate in a large mortar tub (the only thing wide enough to lay the large plate down into) and elevated it slightly on some nuts (so the bottom wouldn't be flush against the bottom of the tub, and the vinegar solution could get at it). I had to use an entire gallon of the 30% vinegar ($20 at either Lowes or HD), mixed 1:1 with water (for a 15% acetic vinegar solution) to fully cover the plate. To remove mill scale, a 48 hr bath in standard white vinegar, with the solution changed out after 24 hrs with a fresh batch after a first go at the steel plate with a scratch pad or wire brush, was recommended to fully get rid of the mill scale. With the 15% solution, I was able to rub off all of the mill scale with a scratch pad at the 24 hr mark. If I had to do it with 2 applications of 2 gallons each of the standard 5-6% or so white vinegar, it likely would have taken the full 48 hours and the cost would have been the same (4 gallons of standard strength distilled white vinegar vs the 1-gallon of 30% vinegar diluted 1:1 with water). So its a wash. But admittedly you won't find the 30% vinegar solution at a supermarket or corner store.
Honestly, I think the advantage would be that you only need to buy one bottle and you can dilute it. It creates less handle to wrangle containers, and you save a few bottles. Having used muriatic acid, I'm not sure of I'd meww with anything more potent than normal, or maybe 10% cleaning vinegar. I'd rather it tool a couple days longer to stew, than need to find it how they treat acid burns.
Being a painter, I had to deal with a lot of rust on metal. Prepping it for primer and paint. Vinegar is an excellent rust remover and economical especially for tools and hardware or nuts and bolts. Cheap water based phosphoric acid, can be used as a iron oxide (rust) converter, it changes the rust to a inert layer of iron phosphate (black) which is black in color. Check it out for your next painting chores where rust is present, you don't want that iron oxide (rust) coming back through your nice new paint job. This was a great video and shows how to remove rust in a economical way. Thanks for showing. Oh and you can get a quart or gallon jug of Phosphoric Acid at your local paint store for a reasonable price.
Would you have any hint for how to get rid of rust on a vertical surface? I would by the way also like to know how to decalcify any vertical surface.. In both cases the easily obtainable yet primarily effective agent that vinegar is would not stay in place anywhere near long enough to do its work!
@@harrickvharrick3957 For a vertical surface possibly naval jelly. It has the gel consistency and would stay. It might not be economical, depending on how much surface you have. You can also media blast.
Thank you for taking the time to do this! I have some tools that were in a tool box that has the "waterproof seal" on it, but apparently that does NOT work. IF it did my tools wouldn't be rusted from being left in it outside. Tried the baking soda/vinegar mix and that did not work, so now gonna try the STRAIGHT vinegar and hopefully my tools will look like yours!
Many thanks for this video. I had a Gurkha Kukri which had succumbed to a moderate amount of rust. 24 hours soaking in normal white vinegar and a bit of steel wool did the trick. Rinsed well with water to neutralize the vinegar and then sprayed with WD40. Once again, thank you for the video--very helpful.
8:52 Steel wool works better than the grinder. Pain household steel wool. Trust me on this. A grinder removes too much metal, it 'll weaken your tool. 10:46 That is rust reacting with vinegar, it needs to go or it 'll pit the blades and eat the screws. Lost a pair of pliers like that. Stronger vinegar is faster, but , you 're losing steel as well as rust. Stay with the 5% edible solution. You might need to repeat the process, but its cheap, almost harmless, and not strong enough to actually harm your tools. The goal is to remove the rust, not imbue the steel with acetic acid(that's the part that does the work). Take it slow, use steel wool for stubborn spots, rinse with a baking soda in water solution, you need some experimenting to find what works best for your tools, to neutralise the acid, and after a good rub down, oil them with vegetable oil to prevent a repeat performance. Alight coating is enough don't go overboard with the oil. You 're not cooking the damn thing.
I tried this with a pair of J&M pliers that were rusted shut after watching this video and they freed up. I was about to toss them TBH but after some oil they are good as new. Thanks Nathan. - Nathan
Carefully use a 120 grit 4 1/2 flap wheel to remover the very bad rust. Then use a 4 1/2 inch loose bristle wire brush to take off almost all the remaining rust. ( $ 3.50 at harbor freight ). I clean and sell a lot of cheap rusty tools. I know what I am talking about. Use an apron and safety glasses. Those bristles break and fly every where. Do this outside.
That black is the result of the acid bonding with the ironoxide and neutralized the rust. The red rust is active rot, the black stuff blocks oxygen from bonding with the iron, that's why a nice thin patina protects carbon steels and some tool steels from more serious corrosion.
Thank you for sharing this information! I actually use Braggs Apple cider vinegar with mother for my health benefits. I use distilled white vinegar for cleaning and even laundry? As a fabric softer in my laundry. There's RUclips cleaning channels that rate it top. But I never thought about using it on my rusty tools! 😊! Thanks again and the information!
I have been cleaning rusty tools for most of 40 years. In my experience, for most applications a wire wheel on a bench grinder has proven the fastest and easiest for the most part. My results with chemicals regardless the choice rarely if ever proved as effective as a wire wheel. Even better at cleaning ordinary hand tools is a bead blast cabinet since the abrasive can reach areas that are inaccessible using a wire wheel on a bench grinder.
Great video! Fortunately, where I live, my local Home Depot usually has the 30% Acid Vinegar in stock. I find it with the cleaning solutions - Simple Green, etc. I have also ordered it online from them when it was out of stock. Got it in a couple days with free shipping. I have used it successfully to remove rust on some of Dad's old tools. But my main purpose for buying it was for use as a weed killer. I have a "landscaped" area, covered in rock, that weeds occasionally poke through. The sedge grass is the worst. You can't just pull it out because it will just grow right back. So I pull it out and spray a little 30% Acid Vinegar in the hole. That usually takes care of it. And this doesn't add any poisons to the water table or to the run-off polluting the streams and rivers. I suspect that one could take the leftover vinegar from rust removal, strain it through some cheesecloth, and use it as weed killer. That way it works for you twice.
Ya know… I should probably mention that you shouldn't spray this vinegar anywhere on your lawn. It will kill any grass it comes in contact with. It is best used where there is no other adjacent plant life that you want to keep. Along with the landscaped area mentioned earlier, I also use it on the weeds that grow in the gaps between the concrete slabs of my driveway and sidewalk. If you try to kill individual dandelions in your lawn, you'll likely end up with brown patches. Don't ask me how I know this. 🙄
@@lorihamlin3604 - I have actually successfully done this before. But I used a sprayer that shot out a very narrow stream and held it just a few inches from the dandelion. I sprayed directly where the stem came out of the ground. It's tedious but effective. But again, it's best to use the high acid vinegar on cracks / gaps in the driveway and sidewalk where there is no adjacent foliage to harm.
Great comparison video! I was leaning to the 30% until you explained the coast difference and availability. Thanks for sharing. I have a pile of rusty tools, might need 5 gallons of it, lol!
As someone else mentioned, you can use the 30% stuff as a concentrate to dilute. But in my experience, regular vinegar is fine, just a little slower. The best stuff is Evaporust (safe to touch, just a little sticky. Still not good practice though). It's fast, safe to use, and the only thing you worry about when it goes bad is whether you put any heavy metals into it that made it bad for the environment. Otherwise it's good for most anything.
Thanks! Remember, you can cut the 30% with water and it will still be stronger, and bring the cost down. I used 45% with my bare hand and got burned, so wear gloves with anything beyond household vinegar!
This is only my second video of yours, and I'm hooked. You keep a good pace, you're super likeable and I like all your points😁. Thanks for helping with my old hinges❤️
Good video brother. I like how you showed how the three different types of vinegar work. I definitely have to agree with you that vinegar works man. I went to Walmart and pick me up a bottle & a gallon of vinegar because I had a mudflat get ripped off at a shipment. Luckily I was on my way home & was off for 2 days. I spray vinegar on those mud flat Bolts so those bolts could come loose. Man it work with no problems and I had a new mudflap on the trailer in 15 min. Good video brother.
You can also use vinegar for pigeon removal. I've had pigeons that were so loud that they woke me up in the morning if I left the balcony door open. Give your balcony rail a vinegar rub to remove any pigeon droppings. Clean the concrete and sprinkle the vinegar on the concrete. The smell bothers the pigeons.
An excellent insightful test! I actually use used empty plastic gallon White Vinegar jugs. I just cut off the top at the natural indepth upper line. This makes for an effective container to hold rusted metal parts including firearms parts. I also add Salt to the White Vinegar this creates a power acidic mix. Do this in open air, outside and let the sunlight heat it up for a few hours. Or place in a water tight metal deep pan on a hot plate. Note buy an water tight metal pan dedicated just for removal of rust from metal tools,firearms parts etc. Never use any such container again for preparing any food items. Finally procesing. I use number four (0000) steel wool to finalize the rust removal process on the various metal objects. Then rinse and coat metal/ gunparts with hot water and baking soda let sot for a few minutes and lastly give a final rinse cleaning with hot boiling water. Then quickly dry off the tools/ gun parts with use of a hair dryer, heat gun and or dry cloths or paper towels. Lubricate the tools/ gun parts using good Oil to penetrate saturate the metal tool/ gun parts. You can also wrap the tool/ gunnparts in a shop towels soaked in oil Lubricant overnight put inside a clean plastic bag or in a safe place.
Thanks for a great video and for the safety warning. Wear gloves always when cleaning with full strength vinegars. Regular food grade distilled white vinegar is harmful as well. I used to have it in a spray bottle and wiped down my kitchen every night plus washed fruits & vegetables with it. It burned my skin very badly after 3 years of using it so best to wear gloves no matter what the strength. A vinegar bath kills salmonella in fish, meats, vegetables, fruits and will clean off and kill other bacteria as well. This vinegar,will also melt the lime mineral from bathroom fixtures. I had no idea there was an industrial strength cleaning vinegar. Good to know, thank you! For years we have used Braggs A.C.V. for food poisoning and/or diarreah. A mug of hot water, 1Tblsp each or raw honey and the apple cider vinegar. We swear by it.
Thank you Southern Gent, for putting the info-out there. While removing packing grease on plumbing pipes on a lamp kit. I decided to use dawn with water, forgetting how quickly rust forms. 5 hrs. in this case. Gradually the rust is coming up. I found the best vinny to be what I had sitting under the sink! Thank you sir.
I’m from Canada and my local store has 10 % vinegar. It’s “ALLEN’S, double strength, Cleaning vinegar. It works very well, I’ve never done any experiments, but it may be another alternative. It’s about $4 Canadian for 2.5 litres, where regular vinegar is about $2. There’s no warning labels on it and it’s in the cleaning section
You can look up experiments of what people do with the strongest of vinegars. People cook with it. The acid is so strong that it breaks down the material tenderizing it.
Much stronger than even industrial strength 30% vinegar is Glacial Acetic Acid which is essentially 99.5% concentrated vinegar. Glacial Acetic Acid can dissolve rust 3.3 times faster than industrial strength 30% vinegar.
Thank you for this video. Interesting! I think maybe 7-8 hours would work too?? I also thought that industrial vinegar had to be diluted by 16 parts to make it similar to Distilled white vinegar. Maybe, it could be 8 parts and make it 50 %. I did not even know about the Industrial vinegar. Yes, sometimes tools DO need to be restored as I do garden in the South where it is very humid.
50 years ago I tried Muriatic acid. Wow it really dissolved the rust but I had to rescue the part from the acid because it looked like it was going to dissolve the steel. I did rescue it in time. I think vinegar is better idea.
was just curious about how the vinegar affected the coating of the handles of the tools? Did it breakdown the rubber/plastic coating to the point of disintegration? Thanks for the comparison.
Thank you for your time and effort Thank you for sharing your video content Thank you for the time it took you to upload this to RUclips I've tried to distilled white vinegar it worked great. I use the apple cider vinegar Tablespoon daily 8 to 16 oz of water. No more body cramps. No more bloated stomach. I know this is about tools. I ordered the 30% To destroy weeds around my home. Some reviews say you get results within 10 minutes. Very potent must use precautions and protection for the 30%. The other vinegars I use in dish water The clean fruit and vegetables after going to the market. Thank you so much
Wait can you tell me more about cleaning my fruit & vegetables with the food grade vinegar please. Or maybe I'll look it up bc I'm certain there's also a Utube video for that also. Thanks so much for that idea tho. I've been tryn to find something other than the expensive fruit & veggie wash I currently buy. Considering I need to cut that expense I'm thinking Vinegar would be Fantastic for my household. Much appreciated.
Not wanting to detract from your presentation but I have used with a great deal of success, muratic acid diluted with water. A gallon of acid can be purchased fairly cheaply around my area and goes a long way for cleaning rust off of steel. I give the rusty items a rinse with baking soda followed by a generous rinsing with plain water before drying and spraying down with a product like WD40. An excellent presentation. Thanks for sharing.
The only problem I got with Muratic Acid is that it is hazardous to kids and animals if they get ahold of it. Vinegar is something that is safe that most people have at home already.
I can appreciate the concern over the safety of children and animals.around my place, there are no children or animals in harms way and I always keep the acid solution used and disposed of in a safe way. Thanks for the feedback.
Plenty of other vid's on YT discuss the efficacy of Muriatic Acid (works in 15-20 minutes), but it comes with A LOT of warnings. Long length acid resistant gloves, eye protection, and proper respirator for fumes (not just some cloth or surgical mask), and proper dilution and disposal. Also, if you leave any exposed in a closed environment (closet, shop), the vapors alone will rust everything within range. It works great, but requires some careful fore thought and PPE.
@coppulor6500 Depending on the amount of rust that I want to remove, I generally add about 2 ounces of muratic acid to each gallon of water and place the vessel ( always non metalic) in a place away from pets,children, and possible sources of flame or ignition and let itdo its work. Sometimes a change of solution is needed to complete the task but I have had satisfactory results from removing rust in this manner. Don't forget to use proper protective equipment when working with chemicals.
Not where I live. Apple cider vinegar costs 5+ Dollars. Vinegar costs $2.99 per gallon. The reason why I do not use the 30% solution is safety issues. It will burn you under prolong exposure to your skin. Restoring things for 50 years now and regular white vinegar is my go to choice due to safety.
If you leave the black patina on the tools it will make them much less prone to future rust. You still need to keep the tool wiped dry and clean but that thin layer really helps keep oxygen from bonding with the surface iron
I have had success using a cleaning strength vinegar (6%) and salt mixture to remove rust from tools, especially old files. Adding salt to the vinegar increases it acidity slightly and helps with rust removal. Don't mix vinegar with hydrogen peroxide as it will create peracetic acid which is much stronger and more dangerous to breathe the fumes. I also use heated vinegar to blue carbon steel, that's what the blackening is. The acid converts the rust to a protective coating. If you oil the tools, they will be rust resistant. I forget the exact terminology but it has worked as an inexpensive way to protect carbon steel tools and knives.
Yes, the price is significantly different. As of 2/2024 in my area Industrial-$30/gal, Apple Cider-$12/gal, White (at Samsclub) 2 for $6 ($3/gal). Thanks for the comparison!
I bought some industrial vinegar even stronger 43% I think - 8 times stronger than household stuff. Haven’t used it very much yet but it gives a wide range of diluted options. Will probably start out mild and strengthen as needed.
I know what I'm using after seeing this video I have some tools that haven't been touched in years & has rust all over I was between either throwing them out or try to remove the rust & save them. Thanks for the demonstration man.
CHEERS from Canada. Great demo. My hubby and I didn't know about 30%. I buy a 10% from Dollar Tree for $3.00 up here, so that could be a happy medium between the 5% and the 30% as far as how effective and safe.
I bought my mom an amazing knife from a gentleman that makes knives for a living but she miss placed it for a couple of yrs and while its still in good shape there are a few rust spots that i want to get cleaned up for her and was wondering if the vinegar is the best way to go or the backing soda water mix with steel whool/green scrub pad? I really want to remove the rust without scratching her knife.
Walmart carries the Harris 30% vinegar and it is several dollars less expensive than Lowes or HD. 30% vinegar is just high concentration acetic acid and water. Distilled white vinegar is 5% acetic acid, standard cleaning vinegar is 6% acetic acid, and industrial vinegars range from 30-70+% and the rest is water.
Great video! The industrial vinegar does cost more…..but, if you will look on the label one quart of the industrial vinegar mixed with one gallon of water is stronger than distilled vinegar, so actually your getting 4 gallons of very strong vinegar out of that one gallon.
The concetration of acetic acid is about 5% in apple cider vinegar and distilled vinegar. That makes industrial vinegar 5 times stronger. The comparative cost can now be worked out. I eould say using 1:6 to even 10 ratio diluted with water may just be right. Good idea to neutralise residual acid with bicarbonate before giving a spray of oil or WD40.
The two common vinegars are 5% acidity, the 30% vinegar means 30% acidic or 6 times more acidic than the others, and at 4 times the price, it is a much better deal. Just dilute the 30% with water, and throw your whole rusty tool box in.
I use Household Grade White vinegar for re sharpening all my metal work files I soak then for 2 weeks then wash them off and remove any rust with a brass brush. all files come out nice and sharp. New South Wales Australia.
Rather use , as I am now, 6% vinegar multiple times. The rust starts falling off and bubbles appear vigorously moving about with each new solution used with my rusted pruning shears. Might also try oxalic acid on shears.
Sorry for being late to the game here but what if ya stretch the spendy 30% stuff by mixing 50/50 with the white vinegar ?? edit: also, how effective would the vinegar be if you pour the used vinegar back into a separate jug (through a strainer to remove chunks of course) and use it again...maybe with a little added 30% to kick up a notch ??
I filter it through a old gold coffee strainer it stays strong for a few uses and yes you can reconstitute it with more added. After several uses I may save it for pre cleaning a really rust large objectl
White vinegar is the cheapest way to go. It may take more than 24 hours in some cases but it will do the job and do it safely. Rinse with water after soaking and brushing then flush the water away with wd40. Dry and put away in a dry place. Thanks for the video.
I just found some vintage wire industrial baskets which I'm going to try this vinegar method on! Baskets which were actually made here in the USA😀 in the actual state where I'm from, sadly rarely anything is ever made here any more.....
I really appreciate your honesty you're concerned about everything that you was talking about and I'm glad I got to what your video and yes I should subscribe to you
Thanks for your work. I'll use the regular vinegar and just leave it in a bit longer. Shouldn't hurt a rusted 20lb trailer hitch I use as a radiator buster for tailgaters...lol
Honestly, it's nice to know that vinegar will remove rust. However, if one has a grinder with a good wire brush wheel you can remove all that rust easily with that and only that. I do it all the time when I get tools that have rusted, and WD-40 will usually free up the plyers. Keep working them and wiping the rust out that loosens up. No need to waste money on vinegar to clean tools.
There's a time and place for everything, plus vinegar is a lot cheaper than wd40 so that's really a non issue. Don't get me wrong a wire wheel works wonders but they are extremely limited when going after anything more complex than a flat surface 😂. Sure there are ways of removing rust inside pipes or small parts but the amount of work doesn't compare to a simple soaking in a liquid that is like 3 bucks for a gallon. For anything more complex than a flat surface I wouldn't be considering the wheel.
Free H.A.C.C.P. You need to store the acetic acid (30% vinegar) apart from Basic solutions (as in acetic acid is acidic and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is basic). They should both be inside separate cabinets so your house does not burn down and kill your family… the stronger the basic and/or acidic the more important this becomes. If you use a garage, consider opposite sides of the garage one for basics one for acidic. - Lab technician that worked with full strength chemicals (or made my own)
❤ people say You're supposed to neutralize the acid in the vinegar with baking soda after you remove the rust from the metal but if the vinegar keeps the rust off the metal why would you neutralize it❤ seems like soaking your rust free tools and vinegar every now and again and then just letting them are dry and then applying a nice coat of WD-40 or whatever until the next time you do your vinegar soak seems like that would be an excellent way but if the vinegar really does keep the rest away why would you use baking soda to neutralize the chemical reaction that keeps the rust away
Rust is still on where the tool was lying on the base of the dish, suspending the tool more effective. Would have good to see what came off on the rag also. Good try though, gave some insight as to how Vinegar works. Many thanks.
I have watched 3 of your rust removal with vinegar and I have had a lot of fun, so thank you for that! BUT I think you really just need to put your tools away! LAUGHS
That industrial vinegar is also great at killing weeds in your yard and any that grows up thru concrete. Just add it to a small sprayer and go to town on those weeds.
Care must be taken when using vinegar to remove rust from items that are/ were chrome or zinc plated. If left a day or so the vinegar will remove the zinc/ chrome plating. The problem is that there are carcinogenic elements used in both chroming and zinc plating and these will now be floating around in the vinegar/ rust soup. The most dangerous is the gold coloured plating with the slight rainbow/ oil-slick effect on the surface. This is called hexavalent chromate and it is highly carcinogenic to the point that it was banned in many countries. So, extreme care needs to be taken when disposing of the used vinegar and anything it has come in touch with it.
Thanks for the info!
I have a whole socket set of Chrome Vanadium sockets that have some rust on them from when a cat got into my garage and peed on my sockets! and I had to take my sockets out in the rain while changing a water pump in a gas station parking lot a few days ago. Tools look like crap now! How would you recommend I safely get that nice chrome shine back?
Great tip/heads up. Thank you.
@@austech360 evaporust
Given solutions of 5% and 30% acetic acid in water (with a few impurities (more in the cider vinegar)) the 30% solution being 6 times stronger is bound to work faster & longer since it has more H+ ions to donate & less water getting in the way, however the weaker solutions should work just as well over a longer period (until exhausted) & warming to say 60 degrees Celsius will speed everything up; you could use litmus paper to show when each solution is exhausted.
Great video. My apologies if this has already been addressed in the comments, but it's important to neutralize the acetic acid after removing the rust, with a water-baking soda mixture. Once neutralized, dry with a towel or heat gun, then protect with WD-40.
👍🏻
Hell yeah! Pin this comment!
Should you place them in the baking soda mixture immediately or after whipping/scraping off the remaining rust?
@@brownbear992 I used baking soda mixed with water, quick scrub with steel wool, rinse, dry, my tools are fantastic. I did it this afternoon after watching this video and reading this comment.
All of these comments are great. I did find that after all of this is done that coating the tools in coconut oil really works awesome and it is supposed to be better than other oils.
Protective eye wear is a good idea, especially when using wire brushes which can fling vinegar
and/or rust while scrubbing.
I had two old iron skillets from the kitchen that i decided to use solely for camping. Both skillets had taken heavy surface rust from sitting in storage after a weekend camp. No pits or holes in the iron, and still a very sturdy, thick iron skillet, just heavy deep red oxidation. I poured 70/30 vinegar water into one skillet and let it sit about about 1 full day, then cleaned it. The iron was clean metal surface. For the other skillet i put the same mix but let it sit with about one inch of the vinegar cocktail for 5 or 6 days. The iron in the skillet seperated into layers like a stack of potato chips and broke in half, into several large chips as i dealt with it. Standard vinegar will penetrate 3/8 inch soft steel, iron if you let it sit soaking for several days... Dont underestimate regular household vinegar. Also, oxidation after vinegar soak increases very rapidly because it changes the chemical structure of effected areas of the metal. It must be painted within 48 hours, or the return of oxidation will be far worse than original state.
Zzz's
I've got a humid shop full of rusty dirty tools that I want to clean up. This was extra helpful. Thank you!
I’ve been using vinegar as a cleaner since early 90’s when I found out how fast it cut through the grime while cleaning my truck, it started as a class cleaner for me. Now I buy a couple boxes from Sam’s a month. I use it for the shower, toilet, windows, stainless sink and floors in the house. I also use it on almost everything outside, works really well instead of bleach on the facer boards and under hang, also on concrete. It’s my cheapest and safest cleaning product I have and never have to worry about if the dog tries to lick at it.
Definitely man, vinegar has a lot of awesome uses. Hell I’ve even heard of people using it for weed killer.
): )
Ij okay *> fk?k8 know bm
@@southernsalt it works. Spray it on and let the sun do the rest.
@@southernsalt my wife uses vinegar salt and water as weed killer. Even kills poison ivy
Great video! Didn't realize it cleaned up rust. I accidentally broke a jar of apple cider vinegar on my garage floor and boy did the concrete get real clean and white. Had a bottle of household vinegar freeze and get a hole and spill on the same floor in a different place and did an amazing job of cleaning again. I'm going to do some concrete cleaning this summer. Thanks!
Inherited a shed full of old tools, and learned a lot about using distilled vinigar. You leave it in at least 24 hours, take it out one tool at a time, the black sludge comes right off with water, the more pressure the better.
A couple of things worth adding:
• The % tells us how much Acetic acid (vinegars "active ingredient") is present. Ex. 30% means 30% Acetic acid.
● The distilled white & apple cider would both be found in the same part of the grocery store, intended for food use. Their strength is 5%
● While the 30% would be found only online or hardware stores, most supermarkets will carry a 6% Cleaning vinegar. This will be found with the cleaning products, typically next to the Ammonia.
● The difference between 5% and 6% may sound tiny but it actually results in the cleaning vinegar being 20% more powerful than the regular distilled or apple cider in terms of cleaning power. Gives a better idea of just how strong the 30% industrial is.
● If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room, the color you'll see is called "eigengrau.
● Knowing these things, consider that you can easily buy 75% industrial vinegar on Amazon, its about 50 bucks a gallon but thats gotta be some strong shit.
● LeBron James grew up in Akron, OH and he had a rough childhood.
Amazing.
We have widely available 15 and 20 percent vinegar for one dollar a liter here in Budapest.
The % indicates how much Acetic acid (vinegars "active ingredient") is present.
It cannot TELL anyone anything as the bottle cannot SPEAK
You do not yet know the difference between its and it's
Besides wj=hich I have edited and corrected your text into a higher level of English
Use it as an example and read more to improve your vocabulary - given that the US
education system is the third-world and very low on the OECD standards - almost
near the bottom end of the scale
A couple of things worth adding:
● The % indicates how much Acetic acid (vinegars "active ingredient") is
present. Ex. 30% means 30% Acetic acid.
● The distilled white & apple cider would both be found in the same part
of the grocery store - intended for food use. Their strength is 5%
● While the 30% would be found only online or in hardware stores - most
supermarkets will carry a 6% Cleaning vinegar. This will be found with
the cleaning products - typically next to the Ammonia.
● The difference between 5% and 6% may sound tiny - however - it actually
results in the vinegar being 20% more powerful than the regular
distilled or apple cider vinegar in terms of cleaning performance.
Gives a better idea of just how concentrated the 30% industrial is.
● If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room - the color you will see
is known as "eigengrau.
● Knowing these things - consider that you can easily buy 75% industrial
vinegar on Amazon - it's about 50 bucks a gallon but that has to be
some strong shit.
● LeBron James grew up in Akron, OH and he had a rough childhood.
@@andrew_koala2974 Pompous much? You did not improve on his comment at all. Additionally, your own punctuation is horrible.
Good stuff . Important to note. Either rinse with warm water after cleaning or as a viewer commented neutralize the acidic level by dropping them in a baking soda and water bath
Another good rust removal video. I have used vinegar in motorcycle fuel tanks to get rid of significant surface rust. It works beautifully, HOWEVER, the fuel tank then requires flushing out with hot water. Upon emptying the hot water and immediately using a heat gun to dry it out you are left with light flash surface rust. Your vinegar pliers appeared to have surface rust also after your final rinse. What I did after flushing and drying my fuel tank was to use evaporust which reacts with the raw steel and keeps it from rusting after flushing out that material. The evaporust is saved and is good for multiple rounds of doing this process. I'll put up a video on my channel soon doing another RZ350 fuel tank.
Good deal, thanks for sharing!
Is evapo-rust the same as the phosphate water-based rust converter?
@@sprezzatura8755 I'm unsure of the chemical properties. Perhaps ask Google???
You should ideally neutralize the acid immediately with a dunk in a high-ish PH solution to prevent this flash-rusting. Even though acid helps dissolve rust - acid also dramatically increases creation of new rust as soon as it contacts oxygen - so that's why the flash-rusting happens right out of the acid bath. Just a little baking soda (or washing soda, which is a bit higher PH) into water is fine, so it's easy and cheap to do - and these chemicals are not so basic that they are dangerous to touch as long as you wash your hands after. Of course this doesn't protect the surface long-term - it just brings rusting back to a baseline speed. Some sort of oiling or painting is needed to keep water and oxygen away or else it's just a matter of time before moisture in the air + oxygen creates new rust. I'm not sure what would be suitable for the inside of a gas-tank (probably not paint), but I can't imagine a light dusting of a thin rust inhibitor like original WD-40 would hurt. Other than that, just keep it really dry until it's sealed into a system for use. Also you may want to avoid using gasoline with added ethanol if you already have a tank that is prone to rust. Ethanol is hydrophilic (it sucks up moisture from the air), so in systems not designed for it (like many simple garden tools for example) it is wise to avoid. Ethanol additive is usually the standard now (and not a problem in cars designed for it), but you can usually get fuel without ethanol as a "premium" product that costs marginally more.
@@TheStigma Thanks for the great reply. You must not live in California. No way you will find non-ethanol fuel here.
Did some research, reading MSDS/SDS sheets for all of the vinegar-based products at Lowes and HD. Found typical white distilled or apple cider vinegars run around 4-7% acetic acid, and "cleaning vinegar" runs around 5-10% acetic acid. I had to cover a 16" x 16" x 1/2" steel plate in a large mortar tub (the only thing wide enough to lay the large plate down into) and elevated it slightly on some nuts (so the bottom wouldn't be flush against the bottom of the tub, and the vinegar solution could get at it). I had to use an entire gallon of the 30% vinegar ($20 at either Lowes or HD), mixed 1:1 with water (for a 15% acetic vinegar solution) to fully cover the plate. To remove mill scale, a 48 hr bath in standard white vinegar, with the solution changed out after 24 hrs with a fresh batch after a first go at the steel plate with a scratch pad or wire brush, was recommended to fully get rid of the mill scale. With the 15% solution, I was able to rub off all of the mill scale with a scratch pad at the 24 hr mark. If I had to do it with 2 applications of 2 gallons each of the standard 5-6% or so white vinegar, it likely would have taken the full 48 hours and the cost would have been the same (4 gallons of standard strength distilled white vinegar vs the 1-gallon of 30% vinegar diluted 1:1 with water). So its a wash. But admittedly you won't find the 30% vinegar solution at a supermarket or corner store.
Honestly, I think the advantage would be that you only need to buy one bottle and you can dilute it. It creates less handle to wrangle containers, and you save a few bottles.
Having used muriatic acid, I'm not sure of I'd meww with anything more potent than normal, or maybe 10% cleaning vinegar. I'd rather it tool a couple days longer to stew, than need to find it how they treat acid burns.
Being a painter, I had to deal with a lot of rust on metal. Prepping it for primer and paint. Vinegar is an excellent rust remover and economical especially for tools and hardware or nuts and bolts. Cheap water based phosphoric acid, can be used as a iron oxide (rust) converter, it changes the rust to a inert layer of iron phosphate (black) which is black in color. Check it out for your next painting chores where rust is present, you don't want that iron oxide (rust) coming back through your nice new paint job. This was a great video and shows how to remove rust in a economical way. Thanks for showing. Oh and you can get a quart or gallon jug of Phosphoric Acid at your local paint store for a reasonable price.
Awesome, thanks for the information!
Great info bud, thanks for sharing! 🇺🇸😉
Would this work on rusting car body metal as well? Thanks!
Would you have any hint for how to get rid of rust on a vertical surface? I would by the way also like to know how to decalcify any vertical surface.. In both cases the easily obtainable yet primarily effective agent that vinegar is would not stay in place anywhere near long enough to do its work!
@@harrickvharrick3957 For a vertical surface possibly naval jelly. It has the gel consistency and would stay. It might not be economical, depending on how much surface you have. You can also media blast.
Thank you for taking the time to do this! I have some tools that were in a tool box that has the "waterproof seal" on it, but apparently that does NOT work. IF it did my tools wouldn't be rusted
from being left in it outside.
Tried the baking soda/vinegar mix and that did not work, so now gonna try the STRAIGHT vinegar and
hopefully my tools will look like yours!
Many thanks for this video. I had a Gurkha Kukri which had succumbed to a moderate amount of rust. 24 hours soaking in normal white vinegar and a bit of steel wool did the trick. Rinsed well with water to neutralize the vinegar and then sprayed with WD40. Once again, thank you for the video--very helpful.
8:52 Steel wool works better than the grinder. Pain household steel wool. Trust me on this. A grinder removes too much metal, it 'll weaken your tool.
10:46 That is rust reacting with vinegar, it needs to go or it 'll pit the blades and eat the screws. Lost a pair of pliers like that.
Stronger vinegar is faster, but , you 're losing steel as well as rust. Stay with the 5% edible solution. You might need to repeat the process, but its cheap, almost harmless, and not strong enough to actually harm your tools.
The goal is to remove the rust, not imbue the steel with acetic acid(that's the part that does the work). Take it slow, use steel wool for stubborn spots, rinse with a baking soda in water solution, you need some experimenting to find what works best for your tools, to neutralise the acid, and after a good rub down, oil them with vegetable oil to prevent a repeat performance.
Alight coating is enough don't go overboard with the oil. You 're not cooking the damn thing.
Best advice!
Great insights. Thank you.
"You 're not cooking the damn thing." What? You've never had baked needle-nose? With some bon frits and a nice glass of pinot noir? :)
Watch your mouth. Jag off
I tried this with a pair of J&M pliers that were rusted shut after watching this video and they freed up. I was about to toss them TBH but after some oil they are good as new. Thanks Nathan. - Nathan
Awesome man, glad it worked well for you!
Carefully use a 120 grit 4 1/2 flap wheel to remover the very bad rust. Then use a 4 1/2 inch loose bristle wire brush to take off almost all the remaining rust. ( $ 3.50 at harbor freight ). I clean and sell a lot of cheap rusty tools. I know what I am talking about. Use an apron and safety glasses. Those bristles break and fly every where. Do this outside.
Roger that!
That black is the result of the acid bonding with the ironoxide and neutralized the rust. The red rust is active rot, the black stuff blocks oxygen from bonding with the iron, that's why a nice thin patina protects carbon steels and some tool steels from more serious corrosion.
Thank you for sharing this information! I actually use Braggs Apple cider vinegar with mother for my health benefits. I use distilled white vinegar for cleaning and even laundry? As a fabric softer in my laundry. There's RUclips cleaning channels that rate it top. But I never thought about using it on my rusty tools! 😊! Thanks again and the information!
Thank you!!
I have been cleaning rusty tools for most of 40 years. In my experience, for most applications a wire wheel on a bench grinder has proven the fastest and easiest for the most part. My results with chemicals regardless the choice rarely if ever proved as effective as a wire wheel.
Even better at cleaning ordinary hand tools is a bead blast cabinet since the abrasive can reach areas that are inaccessible using a wire wheel on a bench grinder.
Great video!
Fortunately, where I live, my local Home Depot usually has the 30% Acid Vinegar in stock. I find it with the cleaning solutions - Simple Green, etc. I have also ordered it online from them when it was out of stock. Got it in a couple days with free shipping.
I have used it successfully to remove rust on some of Dad's old tools.
But my main purpose for buying it was for use as a weed killer. I have a "landscaped" area, covered in rock, that weeds occasionally poke through. The sedge grass is the worst. You can't just pull it out because it will just grow right back. So I pull it out and spray a little 30% Acid Vinegar in the hole. That usually takes care of it. And this doesn't add any poisons to the water table or to the run-off polluting the streams and rivers.
I suspect that one could take the leftover vinegar from rust removal, strain it through some cheesecloth, and use it as weed killer. That way it works for you twice.
Ya know… I should probably mention that you shouldn't spray this vinegar anywhere on your lawn. It will kill any grass it comes in contact with.
It is best used where there is no other adjacent plant life that you want to keep. Along with the landscaped area mentioned earlier, I also use it on the weeds that grow in the gaps between the concrete slabs of my driveway and sidewalk.
If you try to kill individual dandelions in your lawn, you'll likely end up with brown patches. Don't ask me how I know this. 🙄
😮I did the same and had little dead spots all over my lawn.
@@lorihamlin3604 - I have actually successfully done this before. But I used a sprayer that shot out a very narrow stream and held it just a few inches from the dandelion. I sprayed directly where the stem came out of the ground. It's tedious but effective.
But again, it's best to use the high acid vinegar on cracks / gaps in the driveway and sidewalk where there is no adjacent foliage to harm.
Great comparison video! I was leaning to the 30% until you explained the coast difference and availability. Thanks for sharing. I have a pile of rusty tools, might need 5 gallons of it, lol!
Thanks brother, it’ll definitely take care of em.
As someone else mentioned, you can use the 30% stuff as a concentrate to dilute.
But in my experience, regular vinegar is fine, just a little slower. The best stuff is Evaporust (safe to touch, just a little sticky. Still not good practice though). It's fast, safe to use, and the only thing you worry about when it goes bad is whether you put any heavy metals into it that made it bad for the environment. Otherwise it's good for most anything.
Had the pleasure of visiting Harpswell and Bailey's Island a few years ago, it was a fun day and a beautiful area.
Thanks! Remember, you can cut the 30% with water and it will still be stronger, and bring the cost down. I used 45% with my bare hand and got burned, so wear gloves with anything beyond household vinegar!
Thanks!
This is only my second video of yours, and I'm hooked. You keep a good pace, you're super likeable and I like all your points😁.
Thanks for helping with my old hinges❤️
🙌 🙌
Good video brother. I like how you showed how the three different types of vinegar work. I definitely have to agree with you that vinegar works man. I went to Walmart and pick me up a bottle & a gallon of vinegar because I had a mudflat get ripped off at a shipment. Luckily I was on my way home & was off for 2 days. I spray vinegar on those mud flat Bolts so those bolts could come loose. Man it work with no problems and I had a new mudflap on the trailer in 15 min. Good video brother.
Good deal! Thanks for sharing!
You can also use vinegar for pigeon removal. I've had pigeons that were so loud that they woke me up in the morning if I left the balcony door open. Give your balcony rail a vinegar rub to remove any pigeon droppings. Clean the concrete and sprinkle the vinegar on the concrete. The smell bothers the pigeons.
😯
😂😂😂😂🤣🤣
An excellent insightful test!
I actually use used empty plastic gallon White Vinegar jugs. I just cut off the top at the natural indepth upper line. This makes for an effective container to hold rusted metal parts including firearms parts.
I also add Salt to the White Vinegar this creates a power acidic mix. Do this in open air, outside and let the sunlight heat it up for a few hours. Or place in a water tight metal deep pan on a hot plate. Note buy an water tight metal pan dedicated just for removal of rust from metal tools,firearms parts etc. Never use any such container again for preparing any food items.
Finally procesing.
I use number four (0000) steel wool to finalize the rust removal process on the various metal objects.
Then rinse and coat metal/ gunparts with hot water and baking soda let sot for a few minutes and lastly give a final rinse cleaning with hot boiling water.
Then quickly dry off the tools/ gun parts with use of a hair dryer, heat gun and or dry cloths or paper towels.
Lubricate the tools/ gun parts using good Oil to penetrate saturate the metal tool/ gun parts. You can also wrap the tool/ gunnparts in a shop towels soaked in oil Lubricant overnight put inside a clean plastic bag or in a safe place.
Thanks for a great video and for the safety warning.
Wear gloves always when cleaning with full strength vinegars.
Regular food grade distilled white vinegar is harmful as well. I used to have it in a spray bottle and wiped down my kitchen every night plus washed fruits & vegetables with it. It burned my skin very badly after 3 years of using it so best to wear gloves no matter what the strength. A vinegar bath kills salmonella in fish, meats, vegetables, fruits and will clean off and kill other bacteria as well. This vinegar,will also melt the lime mineral from bathroom fixtures.
I had no idea there was an industrial strength cleaning vinegar. Good to know, thank you!
For years we have used Braggs A.C.V. for food poisoning and/or diarreah. A mug of hot water, 1Tblsp each or raw honey and the apple cider vinegar. We swear by it.
Thank you Southern Gent, for putting the info-out there. While removing packing grease on plumbing pipes on a lamp kit. I decided to use dawn with water, forgetting how quickly rust forms. 5 hrs. in this case. Gradually the rust is coming up. I found the best vinny to be what I had sitting under the sink! Thank you sir.
Very interesting video. Thank you.
Thank you also to those who posted educational comments.
Thank you
you're a hero. i'd been thinking this stuff but didn't have motivation to do an experiment like this.
🙌
I’m from Canada and my local store has 10 % vinegar. It’s “ALLEN’S, double strength, Cleaning vinegar.
It works very well, I’ve never done any experiments, but it may be another alternative. It’s about $4 Canadian for 2.5 litres, where regular vinegar is about $2.
There’s no warning labels on it and it’s in the cleaning section
Nice!
You can look up experiments of what people do with the strongest of vinegars. People cook with it. The acid is so strong that it breaks down the material tenderizing it.
Much stronger than even industrial strength 30% vinegar is Glacial Acetic Acid which is essentially 99.5% concentrated vinegar. Glacial Acetic Acid can dissolve rust 3.3 times faster than industrial strength 30% vinegar.
I used white distilled vinegar on cast iron skillets, that worked very well.
Nice, thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this video. Interesting! I think maybe 7-8 hours would work too?? I also thought that industrial vinegar had to be diluted by 16 parts to make it similar to Distilled white vinegar. Maybe, it could be 8 parts and make it 50 %. I did not even know about the Industrial vinegar. Yes, sometimes tools DO need to be restored as I do garden in the South where it is very humid.
50 years ago I tried Muriatic acid. Wow it really dissolved the rust but I had to rescue the part from the acid because it looked like it was going to dissolve the steel. I did rescue it in time. I think vinegar is better idea.
Absolutely!
was just curious about how the vinegar affected the coating of the handles of the tools? Did it breakdown the rubber/plastic coating to the point of disintegration? Thanks for the comparison.
Thanks man! Handles were just fine, didn’t mess them up at all.
Thank you for the explanations in your video. My deceased husband had a lot of tools, some rusty, that I'd like to clean up before I sell them.
Is there a better way then cramping them ? Does it make Easter for the metal to rust when there are little scrapes on it?
I think increasing the temperature of the solution may make it more effective.
I use vinegar as a weed killer, now I will know which one is the best, Thanks for the demonstration
Awesome, thanks man!
Thanks, great information. Currently working on a project to clean some bolts.
Thank you for your time and effort
Thank you for sharing your video content
Thank you for the time it took you to upload this to RUclips
I've tried to distilled white
vinegar it worked great.
I use the apple cider
vinegar
Tablespoon daily 8 to 16 oz of water.
No more body cramps.
No more bloated stomach.
I know this is about tools.
I ordered the 30%
To destroy weeds around my home.
Some reviews say you get results within 10 minutes.
Very potent must use precautions and protection for the 30%.
The other vinegars I use in dish water
The clean fruit and vegetables after going to the market.
Thank you so much
Wait can you tell me more about cleaning my fruit & vegetables with the food grade vinegar please. Or maybe I'll look it up bc I'm certain there's also a Utube video for that also. Thanks so much for that idea tho. I've been tryn to find something other than the expensive fruit & veggie wash I currently buy. Considering I need to cut that expense I'm thinking Vinegar would be Fantastic for my household. Much appreciated.
Not wanting to detract from your presentation but I have used with a great deal of success, muratic acid diluted with water. A gallon of acid can be purchased fairly cheaply around my area and goes a long way for cleaning rust off of steel. I give the rusty items a rinse with baking soda followed by a generous rinsing with plain water before drying and spraying down with a product like WD40. An excellent presentation. Thanks for sharing.
The only problem I got with Muratic Acid is that it is hazardous to kids and animals if they get ahold of it. Vinegar is something that is safe that most people have at home already.
I can appreciate the concern over the safety of children and animals.around my place, there are no children or animals in harms way and I always keep the acid solution used and disposed of in a safe way. Thanks for the feedback.
Plenty of other vid's on YT discuss the efficacy of Muriatic Acid (works in 15-20 minutes), but it comes with A LOT of warnings. Long length acid resistant gloves, eye protection, and proper respirator for fumes (not just some cloth or surgical mask), and proper dilution and disposal. Also, if you leave any exposed in a closed environment (closet, shop), the vapors alone will rust everything within range.
It works great, but requires some careful fore thought and PPE.
Great idea! How much do you dilute? Some further deets would be greatly appreciated
@coppulor6500
Depending on the amount of rust that I want to remove, I generally add about 2 ounces of muratic acid to each gallon of water and place the vessel ( always non metalic) in a place away from pets,children, and possible sources of flame or ignition and let itdo its work. Sometimes a change of solution is needed to complete the task but I have had satisfactory results from removing rust in this manner. Don't forget to use proper protective equipment when working with chemicals.
Not where I live. Apple cider vinegar costs 5+ Dollars. Vinegar costs $2.99 per gallon. The reason why I do not use the 30% solution is safety issues. It will burn you under prolong exposure to your skin. Restoring things for 50 years now and regular white vinegar is my go to choice due to safety.
Use 30% with blue dawn for a weed killer
Great vid! Thank you! I love seeing people test out theories/products. More expensive doesnt always mean better!
That’s right, thanks!!
If you leave the black patina on the tools it will make them much less prone to future rust. You still need to keep the tool wiped dry and clean but that thin layer really helps keep oxygen from bonding with the surface iron
thanks for sharing a complete demostration
Cleaning Vinegar works best for me.Use it to remove rust in Motor cycle gas tanks.
Look at that clean pool!
Lol yessir
I have had success using a cleaning strength vinegar (6%) and salt mixture to remove rust from tools, especially old files. Adding salt to the vinegar increases it acidity slightly and helps with rust removal. Don't mix vinegar with hydrogen peroxide as it will create peracetic acid which is much stronger and more dangerous to breathe the fumes. I also use heated vinegar to blue carbon steel, that's what the blackening is. The acid converts the rust to a protective coating. If you oil the tools, they will be rust resistant. I forget the exact terminology but it has worked as an inexpensive way to protect carbon steel tools and knives.
Yes, the price is significantly different. As of 2/2024 in my area Industrial-$30/gal, Apple Cider-$12/gal, White (at Samsclub) 2 for $6 ($3/gal). Thanks for the comparison!
I bought some industrial vinegar even stronger 43% I think - 8 times stronger than household stuff. Haven’t used it very much yet but it gives a wide range of diluted options. Will probably start out mild and strengthen as needed.
Thank you for this video. You have helped us with our decision making.
Thanks for taking the time to show us.
🙌
I know what I'm using after seeing this video I have some tools that haven't been touched in years & has rust all over I was between either throwing them out or try to remove the rust & save them. Thanks for the demonstration man.
Awesome let us know how it goes!
CHEERS from Canada. Great demo. My hubby and I didn't know about 30%. I buy a 10% from Dollar Tree for $3.00 up here, so that could be a happy medium between the 5% and the 30% as far as how effective and safe.
I bought my mom an amazing knife from a gentleman that makes knives for a living but she miss placed it for a couple of yrs and while its still in good shape there are a few rust spots that i want to get cleaned up for her and was wondering if the vinegar is the best way to go or the backing soda water mix with steel whool/green scrub pad? I really want to remove the rust without scratching her knife.
Walmart carries the Harris 30% vinegar and it is several dollars less expensive than Lowes or HD. 30% vinegar is just high concentration acetic acid and water. Distilled white vinegar is 5% acetic acid, standard cleaning vinegar is 6% acetic acid, and industrial vinegars range from 30-70+% and the rest is water.
Great video! The industrial vinegar does cost more…..but, if you will look on the label one quart of the industrial vinegar mixed with one gallon of water is stronger than distilled vinegar, so actually your getting 4 gallons of very strong vinegar out of that one gallon.
The concetration of acetic acid is about 5% in apple cider vinegar and distilled vinegar. That makes industrial vinegar 5 times stronger. The comparative cost can now be worked out.
I eould say using 1:6 to even 10 ratio diluted with water may just be right.
Good idea to neutralise residual acid with bicarbonate before giving a spray of oil or WD40.
Very helpful. I have some topical rust on a few small tools, looks like it doesn't require the bigness of industrial grade. Thanks, man.
Thanks, let us know how it goes!
Am glad you pointed out the safety points re. the industrial vinegar. good info
I'm wondering if the black substance would help stop future rust?
The two common vinegars are 5% acidity, the 30% vinegar means 30% acidic or 6 times more acidic than the others, and at 4 times the price, it is a much better deal. Just dilute the 30% with water, and throw your whole rusty tool box in.
I use Household Grade White vinegar for re sharpening all my metal work files I soak then for 2 weeks then wash them off and remove any rust with a brass brush. all files come out nice and sharp. New South Wales Australia.
Good deal!!
Great experiment.
Great execution.
Great conclusion.
Bravo Zulu.
Rather use , as I am now, 6% vinegar multiple times. The rust starts falling off and bubbles appear vigorously
moving about with each new solution used with my rusted pruning shears.
Might also try oxalic acid on shears.
10-4
Here in Canada there's 10% cleaning vinegar. It's not dangerous and it's readily available. It must be available in the US as well.
Yeah we have that here.
Sorry for being late to the game here but what if ya stretch the spendy 30% stuff by mixing 50/50 with the white vinegar ??
edit: also, how effective would the vinegar be if you pour the used vinegar back into a separate jug (through a strainer to remove chunks of course) and use it again...maybe with a little added 30% to kick up a notch ??
I definitely think it can be re used. Not sure about blending but I don’t think it would hurt.
@@southernsalt
Thanks 👍
When i try it i will drop a comment here and let ya know how well it works...
Great thinking to try to reuse the vinegar. No sense to toss out a useful product if it can be used again.
I filter it through a old gold coffee strainer it stays strong for a few uses and yes you can reconstitute it with more added. After several uses I may save it for pre cleaning a really rust large objectl
I've reused vinegar for up to 8 to 9 rusty axe heads and sludge hammers....
White vinegar is the cheapest way to go. It may take more than 24 hours in some cases but it will do the job and do it safely. Rinse with water after soaking and brushing then flush the water away with wd40. Dry and put away in a dry place.
Thanks for the video.
I agree wit you there. If time doesn’t matter than white Is the best choice.
I just found some vintage wire industrial baskets which I'm going to try this vinegar method on! Baskets which were actually made here in the USA😀 in the actual state where I'm from, sadly rarely anything is ever made here any more.....
Awesome let us know how it goes
I really appreciate your honesty you're concerned about everything that you was talking about and I'm glad I got to what your video and yes I should subscribe to you
Works awesome for calcium build-up on old fish tanks too
you can increase the acidity by adding salt
Thanks for your work. I'll use the regular vinegar and just leave it in a bit longer.
Shouldn't hurt a rusted 20lb trailer hitch I use as a radiator buster for tailgaters...lol
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Honestly, it's nice to know that vinegar will remove rust. However, if one has a grinder with a good wire brush wheel you can remove all that rust easily with that and only that. I do it all the time when I get tools that have rusted, and WD-40 will usually free up the plyers. Keep working them and wiping the rust out that loosens up. No need to waste money on vinegar to clean tools.
There's a time and place for everything, plus vinegar is a lot cheaper than wd40 so that's really a non issue.
Don't get me wrong a wire wheel works wonders but they are extremely limited when going after anything more complex than a flat surface 😂.
Sure there are ways of removing rust inside pipes or small parts but the amount of work doesn't compare to a simple soaking in a liquid that is like 3 bucks for a gallon.
For anything more complex than a flat surface I wouldn't be considering the wheel.
Free H.A.C.C.P.
You need to store the acetic acid (30% vinegar) apart from
Basic solutions (as in acetic acid is acidic and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is basic).
They should both be inside separate cabinets so your house does not burn down and kill your family… the stronger the basic and/or acidic the more important this becomes.
If you use a garage, consider opposite sides of the garage one for basics one for acidic. - Lab technician that worked with full strength chemicals (or made my own)
I used cleaning just straight mixed in a lil salt & baking soda work Great thx you
I live in Canada and I found cleaning vinegar as it is 10 % acidic and can be found in grocery store
Given the number of heavily rusted tools you have, perhaps you should consider investing in some rust preventive storage. 😉
Nah, I’m good
❤ people say You're supposed to neutralize the acid in the vinegar with baking soda after you remove the rust from the metal but if the vinegar keeps the rust off the metal why would you neutralize it❤ seems like soaking your rust free tools and vinegar every now and again and then just letting them are dry and then applying a nice coat of WD-40 or whatever until the next time you do your vinegar soak seems like that would be an excellent way but if the vinegar really does keep the rest away why would you use baking soda to neutralize the chemical reaction that keeps the rust away
Interesting I am going to try this myself
Let us know what you think.
Rust is still on where the tool was lying on the base of the dish, suspending the tool more effective. Would have good to see what came off on the rag also. Good try though, gave some insight as to how Vinegar works. Many thanks.
Good demo and conclusion
You really prepared, appreciated 😊
Thank you!
Thank you very much for this video. It has helped me quite a lot. God bless.
Your advise was well taken👍🏽💯!!
I use 6% "cleaning strength" vinegar to dissolve rust from old metal hardware, nuts and bolts.
Good deal!
Thanks from Australia well done
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I have watched 3 of your rust removal with vinegar and I have had a lot of fun, so thank you for that! BUT I think you really just need to put your tools away! LAUGHS
That industrial vinegar is also great at killing weeds in your yard and any that grows up thru concrete. Just add it to a small sprayer and go to town on those weeds.
Nice!
I found some 80% industrial vinegar online... this is going to be fun!
If you are cleaning rust on your Italian motorcycle only use Italian wine vinegar.
Thanks for doing this and saving us time and money. I already have distilled vinegar so ima go with that to clean up my inherited rusty axe. 👍🏼😎🔥 🙂🙂🙂
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It's easy to make apple cider vinegar with a couple apples and time. In a 5 gallon plastic bucket. Virtually free.
Very informative.
That black layer probably helps to prevent rusting if you are not going to coat it again
Which one is the alcohol vinegar or spirit vinegar?