I have a couple of frames that have surface rust. What do folks use to remove the rust without damaging the paint too much? These frames a nice enough to ride, but not nice enough to strip and repaint at least for now. Any thoughts are appreciated, cheers!

Scrub area with Coke and tinfoil or WD40 and tinfoil? Apply rust converter (found at an auto parts store) afterwards and then topcoat it with appropriate paint.

Oxalic acid. It's sold as wood bleach at hardware stores. (My local hardware store carries Savogran brand.) Mix a small 12 oz. tub with a kiddie pool full of water and submerge the frame overnight. The rust will be gone with no further paint damage.

It is a perrenial question.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ving-rust.html

Where's the RUST? I didn't see any.

Under some conditions, rust will "grow" out of a tiny pinholes or scratches in the paint and spread across the surface, looking much worse that it is. A stiff nylon brush sometimes works to get most of it off. I use a dental tool to pick away small areas of rust in the scratches and chips then try to match the paint and do a light touch-up.

If there is heavy clearcoat or paint, 4X steel wool or super fine Scotchbrite can get rid of some of the surface rust, then use rubbing compound to get rid of the scratches.

If the rust has spread under the paint and lifted it in small areas, I use a dental pick to remove the paint flakes and rust.

Beyond that commercial rust remover is the next step. I use Evapo-Rust but there's other brands on the market. For rust around cable guides, I scrape off the excess then insert a Q-Tip soaked in the stuff.

Wrap it in some plastic wrap and leave it set for a day or so. You may need to repeat the process several times. Use cotton balls the same way for larger areas.

verktyg

Chas.

+10 There have to be at least 1000 threads on rust removal already. I used to answer every single one of them. But after answering several hundred of them, I stopped. Google is your friend on topics that have likely been discussed many times before. Realize by searching you will get a lot more input than any single thread.

If you are buying bikes to resell, rust is a value killer. I treat rust every day, I am treating a very crusty 1973 World Voyageur frame and fork right now.

For a whole frame-

1- buy Evaporust from an autoparts store.
2- pour 5ish ounces into a steel bowl and drop 20 paper towels in the liquid.
3- lightly squeeze excess liquid out of each and wrap the entire frame with paper towels. you can cut them in thinner pieces too.
4- cover frame with a couple garbage bags and wait 3-12 hours depending on the rust. the bags keep it from drying out and keeps everything clean.
5- rinse frame with clean water and dry.

Its pretty straight forward and doesn't take a ton of prep. just make sure the towels are wrapped tightly. This removes surface rust quickly and if you have any stubborn areas, you can spot treat it with a paper towel or two and cover with clingwrap.
You can reuse the liquid a few times too. Its great for rust on components and loosens all the crud in derailleurs etc without any effort on your part.
This process means no scrubbing with steel wool/tinfoil/anything that could scratch the paint. It also does not affect any paint or decals, at least so far.

This seems like a pretty doable process, thanks! I don't have enough room for a kiddy pool as some have suggested. I get a little worried about the paint, but it seems like evaporust, white vinegar, or Oxalix Acid will do that job without hurting the paint...? The reason I bought the frame was because of the color hahaha hoping that I can clean up a little bit without killing that "Orchid" color that my lady likes. Thanks again, cheers.

Thanks for the link, and yes, it seems there are a thousand ways to do this, trying to find one that doesn't kill my paint! Cheers.

The rust is really just around the lugs for the most part. Thanks for the suggestions!

Simple and cheap is some Barkeepers Friend (cleanser powder) in water and a toothbrush. No abrasives, it has OA in it.

This is what I did recently for a frame with some rust spots and it worked well.

then touch up the paint that was thin and allowed the base metal to rust.

I have used evaporust on schwinns, raleighs, a puch, gt, trek, and a Scott.
Everything from 15 to 35 years old and with decals ranging from under the clear coat to on top and in good shape to on top and flaking.

It hasn't affected any decals yet.
And I've used it on all sorts of paint colors- it doesn't affect paint.

The real benefit of that stuff is with rusty components.

Surface rust vs penetrating rust. Penetrating rust is of greater concern and should be removed in its entirety before applying touch up paint. I've used an exacto knife to remove penetrating rust.