# How To: Remove rust - 7 different products.
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631
**Category:** Builds
**Created:** [March 7, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631 "2008-03-07T20:09:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/1 "2008-03-07T20:09:41Z")
In reference to this thread: [http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46382&highlight=tools](http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46382&highlight=tools)
I have to clean a bunch of hand tools, and based on that I wanted to try a few small samples of products to see which was most effective while requiring the least effort. Bare in mind that ambient temps are in the 20s.
Based on the recommendations of a local hardware store genius, NYSpeed, and friends I went and grabbed the following:
Por 15 Metal Clean
Naval Jelly
CLR
WD40
PB Blast
Vinegar
Coca Cola
8 plastic paint tray liners & a fresh soft metal brush.
I picked out a sampling of tools to clean. The pictures don’t do justice to all of them, but you get the idea.
At 6:40 I started submerging the tools in the order laid out above.
Per the instructions, at 5 & then 10 minutes I checked the CLR, Por15 Metal Clean, and Naval Jelly… no results.
```auto
@ 7:30, I donned plastic gloves and checked on the process.
The naval jelly, holy shit. I could wipe by thumb across the metal and nearly all corrosion was gone. Hit it with the brush for good measure, and they were damned near new.
The Por15 failed the thumb wipe, but with very light brush effort the corrosion was almost gone.
The CLR failed the thumb wipe, and required a little brush work to get the corrosion off.
The WD40 failed the wipe test, and required a little brushing to see an improvement - definately some corrosion left though.
The PBBlast failed the wipe test, and required a little brushing - definately some corrosion left though.
The vinegar surprised me. Failed the thumb wipe, but only required moderate brush work to remove some of the corrosion.
The coca cola failed the the thumb wipe and required sincere brush work to show any improvement. So far it is definitely the worst.
```
9:30 update. I decided that based on the promising results from earlier, I’ve brought a few in for cleanup & oiling.
Warm water rinse by hand in the utility tub; wipe down with a cheap sponge; soft metal brush… each as needed.
You should note that surface rust in the pictures (the crimpers, pliers, & cutter) developed within ~5 minutes of rinse / cleaning… I wiped them down & wd40’d each of them after the pics.
The CLR rinsed off okay, but required sponging & definately needed light brushing to remove remaining corrosion & dirt.
I had a pair of FConn crimps (alot of joints, crevices, and a couple springs) in this, and they could’ve turned out _alot_ better.
The metal looks pretty good, but instantly started to flash rust.
The Por15 Metal Clean rinsed off well, needed a sponge wiping, and brushing in ridges & crevices.
I had a pair of heavy cable/wire cutters in the POR15… the head (read: not sharp part) of the cutters required some moderate brushing, but this took away nearly all remaining rust, soot, and dirt. These look almost as they did when new. I was impressed.
The Naval Jelly is viscous, so it didn’t rinse as easily. However, rinsing took nearly _everything_ off. I didn’t _have_ to sponge it for debris, but did so to remove any remaining gelatinous goo.
I stuck the needle nose in the jelly initially, because thought it would be best suited to clean the ridged teeth of the pliers. That being said, I did have to brush the teeth, but this removed nearly _everything_ (dirt & gum too) from them, these look almost great.
I’ve left the less corrosive samples in the garage to “work” over night.
Next day, 9:00 (~27 hours) updates.
The Coca Cola made things worse. Rinsing left a residue on it. Sponge wiping didn’t remove anything other then the residue. After heavy brush work most of the deposits were gone from reachable surfaces, but the finish was lightly discolored… and areas that couldn’t be brushed were still rusted.
The vinegar seemed to do some work. Rinsing removed some of the lighter rust. Wiping did the same. The tools still required moderate brushing, and didn’t help remove hard / unable to reach rust.
The WD40 had actually started freezing up, there were a few bits of frozen foam. It was a pita to rinse off, rinsing also didn’t remove any rust, nor did wiping it down. After some moderate to heavy brush work the majority of the deposits were gone… but there was noticeable surface corrosion left. Also the hard to reach areas were still fully rusted.
The PB blast didn’t freeze up, and it seemed to have loose debris floating about. Also a pita to rinse, and rinsing didn’t seem to remove anything. Wiping resulted in some removal but it still required heavy brushing to remove most of the rust. Also, the hard to reach areas were still fully rusted.
I did all this to see which product would remove corrosion with the least effort… not surprisingly the product meant for the task worked best. The kitchen products (soda & vinegar) worked to some extent, and were cheapest ($1.50 & $0.89)… though they required the most effort by far. The oil products (WD40 & PB Blast) seemed to be more effective then the kitchen products, but at ~$2-3/can I’d don’t see the value. Not surprisingly the most corrosive products (CLR, POR15, & Naval Jelly) were by far most effective… and @ $3 - 5 per supply, I’d say the extra money is well worth it. I went & bought more Naval Jelly to clean the rest of my tools.
IMO
Naval Jelly
Por15 Metal Clean
CLR
PBBlast
WD40
Vinegar
CocaCola
---
### Author:  [@psphinx81](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/psphinx81)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:21pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/2 "2008-03-07T20:21:27Z")
awesome writeup :tup:
---
### Author:  [@AJC2500](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/AJC2500)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:24pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/3 "2008-03-07T20:24:08Z")
very very good write up. will come in handy, i know I have tools that need a good cleaning and rust removal.
and just so you know, coca cola _induces_ oxidation and corosion. I believe there is a write up somewhere where someone stuck a small nail in coke and it completely disintegrated in a short period of time.
---
### Author:  [@Jagermeister](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jagermeister)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/4 "2008-03-07T20:25:49Z")
:tup::tup:
---
### Author:  [@paulysplitx](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/paulysplitx)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/5 "2008-03-07T20:26:05Z")
With some nicer weather I think I may need to go thru the tool box and do the same.
---
### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/6 "2008-03-07T20:28:35Z")
Nice writeup, and I’m glad to see my favorite came out on top. I’ve been a HUGE fan of naval jelly ever since I used to to clean up a severely rusted Fiero e-brake adjuster. It was one of those, “how have I never heard of this product before now” moments when I was sitting there looking at an 18 year old adjuster that looked almost new. Now I always keep a stock of it in the garage.
---
### Author:  [@ly555is](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ly555is)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/7 "2008-03-07T20:54:09Z")
dunno how you could get by in WNY without knowing of the magic that naval jelly is capable of :tup:
---
### Author:  [@TRP951](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/TRP951)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/8 "2008-03-07T21:08:21Z")
good writeup :tup:
---
### Author:  [@Willybeen](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Willybeen)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/9 "2008-03-07T21:22:04Z")
nice write up :tup:
---
### Author:  [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/10 "2008-03-07T21:38:59Z")
Id heard of naval jelly, but never used it before. Going into this I figured I’d be buying a gallon of the POR15 for ~$30…
I ended up buying another bottle of Naval Jelly. A total of 32 for ~$12 @ the wifes hardware store and I managed to dip/coat/cover ~230 pieces in the stuff.
I’ll tell yah, when I wiped off the first really shitty wrench by hand, and it came completely clean, I was sold.
---
### Author:  [@MaximaSE98](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/MaximaSE98)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/11 "2008-03-07T21:41:32Z")
should have tried draino too
---
### Author:  [@Willybeen](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Willybeen)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:42pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/12 "2008-03-07T21:42:03Z")
word… this is going to get cross posted all over i bet… good job
---
### Author:  [@Nikuk](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nikuk)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 9:44pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/13 "2008-03-07T21:44:35Z")
> [@MaximaSE98](#):
>
> should have tried draino too
never thought of it… but CLR is in the same range…
> [@Nikuk"](#):
>
> In reference to this thread: [http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46382&highlight=tools](http://nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46382&highlight=tools)
and where were you in this thread? lol
---
### Author:  [@dirtye30](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/dirtye30)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/14 "2008-03-07T22:30:53Z")
well now that theyre clean, i now a girl that could suck the chrome off them if need be.
---
### Author:  [@AJC2500](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/AJC2500)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/15 "2008-03-07T23:08:05Z")
> [@dirtye30](#):
>
> well now that theyre clean, i now a girl that could suck the chrome off them if need be.
you’re now a girl? when did that happen?
---
### Author:  [@Karter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Karter)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/16 "2008-03-08T00:04:26Z")
> [@AJC2500](#):
>
> you’re now a girl? when did that happen?
ROTFL
👏
Nice write up
---
### Author:  [@airhead](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/airhead)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/17 "2008-03-08T01:35:53Z")
Excellent! I have a box of rusty tools and that will have to be my weekend project.
---
### Author:  [@newman](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/newman)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/18 "2008-03-08T04:23:55Z")
one thing to note, though.
The por-15 will leave a protective zinc phosphate coating embedded in the metal that the other products will not.
excellent writeup.
---
### Author:  [@ILCisDEAD](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ILCisDEAD)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/19 "2008-03-08T06:52:02Z")
> [@dirtye30](#):
>
> well now that theyre clean, i now a girl that could suck the chrome off them if need be.
lets leave my mother out of this.
Yo momma is so slutty she could suck the chrome off a ball hitch… (I love that one 🙂 )
---
### Author:  [@Cavi\_Mike](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Cavi_Mike)
#### Post date: [March 8, 2008, 7:42am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631/20 "2008-03-08T07:42:44Z")
That’s one hell of a test! Nice!
Obviously the Por-15 worked the best but what else can you use it for? The great thing about PB is that it has tons of other uses so even though it doesn’t work that well, it still works and you won’t have half a can of useless solvent left over like you do with the Por-15.
[Next page](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/how-to-remove-rust-7-different-products/44631.md?page=2)