Rust- no matter if it’s your car, bike, boat or some furniture, seeing it on it can make you so sad, right? Rust is technically iron oxide and it happens when iron or some compound with iron is exposed to oxygen over a longer period of time.
And, moisture, particularly water, tends to speed up this process. It doesn’t just look bad, but it can also damage the metal. The longer we leave it, the more it will corrode until it eats away the object completely.
Luckily, there are some easy, yet effective home methods to clean rust from objects in your home. Check the 6 best ones below…
6 Best Ways to Clean Rust from Your Home
- Vinegar
Citric or acetic acid is a great method to get rid of rust, especially if you’re seeing it form on areas that can be easily removed and soaked.
For example, screws-take them out and soak them in vinegar. Use a half liter plastic bottle and put the screws inside.
Add white vinegar to cover the screws an inch above. Close the bottle and shake it. Leave them soak for 24 hours and then pour out the liquid using a sieve to keep the screws safe.
If they’re still not shiny and rust-free, soak them longer.
- Lemons
Rub salt over the rusted area and then begin to squeeze a lemon or lime onto the salt. Leave it like that for two or three hours before you begin to scrub it off. You can use steel wool or a scourer.
- Baking soda + toothbrush
Pour some baking soda or toothbrush in a dish and add water to make paste-thick, but not too crumbly. Then, apply it onto the rusted area and leave it for several areas before you use an old toothbrush to scrub it off.
- Hydrogen peroxide
Pour some hydrogen peroxide on the rusted area and leave it to bubble and then start scrubbing the area using steel wool.
- Serious scraping
If none of the above methods works, you may need to do some serious scraping. Choose the appropriate scraper-steel wool, sandpaper, a paint scraper, etc.
Make sure you don’t exaggerate and end up damaging the material underneath more than rust has already done.
- Electrolysis
For this method, you may need to put in more effort, but it can really pay off. To achieve electrolysis, you need a car battery charger, a basin with water, a piece of old metal with iron in it, and washing soda.
Put the two metal pieces in the water and add the soda. The charger should be unplugged and the negative terminal connected to the rusty piece and the positive terminal to the sacrificial metal.
Plug the charger and switch it on. Electrolysis will begin after an hour or so. Leave it overnight and in the morning, unplug the charger and disconnect the terminals.
Check out if the rust has been removed. If you’re not satisfied, reconnect the charger and leave it again.
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