Coke on rust?
 

Hi.

Is Coca Cola still good for getting rid of rust on steel. I'm thinking of leaving my rear brakes in Coke over the weekend, they are pretty badly rusted. Is there anything better that can do the job?

Cheers.

No, don't use coke. Lots of threads on that topic here. You can search with the forum search tool, or use google like this: "remove rust site:www.bikeforums.net".

vinegar is deffo better than coke, coke doesn't work...well. hardly removes anything

but there's a product i do recommend, saves any scrubbing - metal rescue

I use Evaporust -- I find that does a tremendous job of removing rust. Rusty metal turns into a dark gunmetal grey. If it's rusted chrome, pitting will still be present (it doesn't actually restore chrome), but any rust is either removed or made super easy to scratch off.

I should have taken before and after pictures of a set of MAFAC Racers I cleaned up this week. The aluminum was fairly oxidized (dull-looking) and all of the steel parts were covered with rust. The chromed bolts were pretty clean already, but everything turned out great.

I use Evaporust

I would have bought that stuff but around here [in oz] they want about $90 for a 5 LTR bottle, what is it..liquid gold?! lol
so shopped around and managed to get a 5 LTR container of Metal Rescue for $50, some say it's tops! even better than Evaporust

What sort of brakes do you have? Are you sure that they are steel.

Barkeeper's Friend is a cheap source of rust dissolving oxalic acid.

So vinegar would be better? White or brown?

They are old school Raleigh 3 speed brakes. Old fashioned.

lol

anything with the highest acidic %'age!

i bought a bottle of white distilled vinegar ages ago to try for seized seat/stem posts and found it was useful to soak rusty bits, spokes especially!

Yep, steel. They don't look too rusty in the pics. I use a solution of Oxalic Acid to soak things like this. If the corrosion has not yet gotten through the chrome, OA will make them look like new. Things that are not plated will loose the rust, but may look dull after. OA is a powder sometimes sold as wood bleach. 1-2 teaspoons per gallon is all that it takes.

If you are local to the Triangle area of NC, I'd be glad to give you some.

To someone cleaning up rusty parts, I'd say it is. I have some beautiful-looking brakes on my Peugeot now after an overnight soaking. It really takes the elbow grease out of the job. I'm not saying that Evaporust is the only product or the best or whatever, but for the OP's purpose of cleaning up those old caliper brakes, it would do great.

You are right, though -- it's not cheap. In the US, it's about 20 bucks for a gallon jug if I recall correctly. It can be used more or less indefinitely, though. I haven't found its effectiveness to wear off with time or use. I have a couple of small containers that I've used to soak various smaller bits and I've done that 10s of times with good success each time. I still have half of my original gallon in the jug for future use.

That's a very kind offer but I am on a different continent!

It's gonna have to be white vinegar and some salt. That's all I can afford at the moment. Then some bicarb of soda to finish off.

Now I need to find out how to take these brakes off. I've never done that before.

A kitchen cleanser with oxalic acid in it is going to be as cheap as vinegar at the grocery store.

Ketchup

CLR then a few days in wd40.

Do you know of any brands to look for with oxalic acid? I'm in the UK.

Just go look at the powdered scrubbing cleaners - there aren't likely to be more than 6 of them on the shelf - and read the active ingredient.

Search for electrolysis, you need a battery charger or similar power supply and some scrap steel. Its pretty effective, especially on chrome. I didn't need to add any "washing soda", just used tap water.

I used to run a kids' bicycle recycling program that had several sponsors, including a well-known supermarket chain. They used to donate cases of store-brand cola to us and none of the kids liked it, so I set out to find another use for it. After reading that Coke was good for removing rust, I gave our generic cola (much harsher and more carbonated than name-brand colas) a try.

I have to say, it worked pretty well. It did leave a sticky, sugary residue that needed to be rinsed off with water, but it worked on the rust. I don't know if I would ever use it on one of my own bikes, but for a youth program that had no real cash budget, this generic cola was liquid gold.

Hi Wozza

I'm in the UK too, and I've tried several things, with varying success. Plain white vinegar will do the job, although it might take longer than overnight depending on how bad the rust is. I've had things soaking for close to 3 days to get the rust off, but it works.

If you want something faster and more reliable, this is the best I've found (that I can get in my local shops) so far: HG rust remover https://www.housemakers.co.uk/rust-r...hoCq6cQAvD_BwE

You'll need to wear gloves (and goggles if you're sensible) and be mindful of how you dispose of it, but it works a treat, and is only about £7 per litre. You can dilute it 5 parts to 1 for soaking, or just paint it on neat to larger items. For frames, I wrap paper towels around the rusty areas, then paint neat product on to soak the towels. A bit of a faff, but since I have no way to safely soak a frame in this stuff, it works.

Tastes better over ice.

Can't believe I'm going to say these 4 letters... WD40... has a rust remover formula that I've used and had good results with.

This old piece of advice reflects the presence of phosphoric acid in Coca Cola, but the amount is too low to be very effective. A rust-removal product such as "Naval Jelly" would be much better, and probably not too expensive.

EDIT: 8 ounces, 5 bucks at Walmart.