Do Chemically Treated Towles/Rags Exist to Wipe Off Rust?

[Naperville]

What I am looking for must exist. This is for very very minor surface rust that you can find on knives, firearms, battery contacts, terminals on battery powered devices. Naturally it has to be pretty dry if we are speaking about knives, battery contacts, and terminals on battery powered devices.

Have you found a solution like this and was it useful? What is the product name?


What are you using to wipe off minor surface rust? I just thought that it would be easier with a chemically impregnated towel that you can buy, but I suppose I could just put bar keepers or something on a rag to cut down on the costs.

[JNewell]

Does this exist? No. Your best bet for really light rust is bronze wool and a good CLP product. It won't deal with (1) staining or (2) surface pitting, but it also won't usually remove bluing and it's less likely to change the visual appearance of bare metal. If you have some scaling, you can try using the edge of something copper or bronze, such as a scrap of copper bar stock or a pre-zinc U.S. penny, lubricated with CLP. I've read people recommending Kroil for this purpose but I've never gotten results that were better than a good CLP product.

Some rust-removal chemicals will significantly etch the surface of steel and/or cause discoloring, and most of them will cut right through most bluing.

It goes without saying here that *anything* you propose to use should be tested on some less visible area.

[phaust]

Jewelry polishing cloth?

[Naperville]

Jewelry polishing cloth?

Does it remove very slight rust? What do you think?

[DSH007]

FrogLube FrogWipes? Advertised as a "cleaning, lubricating, rust prevention product." Seems like it's mostly targeted towards the firearms crowd, but sounds similar to what you're looking for..

I personally have never used the fancy wipes. Some barkeeper's friend (the "soft" liquid stuff) and a rag work so well for old rusty stuff, in my experience, that I've never found myself wishing for a better solution..

[phaust]

Jewelry polishing cloth?

Does it remove very slight rust? What do you think?

A bit of surface spotting it will. To polish it needs a bit of abrasiveness, so it's something like flitz on a cotton cloth.

[Stas]

Ballistol wipes? From what I know mineral oil weakens the rust so it can help to clean. I feel like Tuf-cloth can do it (from their advertisement images) but never tried to use it this way.

Otherwise I would use Flitz polish, or yes, Barkeepers friend (mixed with water). Renaissance make rust removing solution too.

[Manixguy@1994]

CLP towelettes clean , lube and protect . MG2

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I need a cloth that can remove all surface rust, all staining, all pitting, and that can remove any coating and give me a shiny satin polished finish on knives. Does this exist or am I asking too much?

[Naperville]

Thank you all! I have quite a few ideas to try out now.

[M.FREEZE]

I have had luck using Boogie Wipes. They are saline based wipes for babies faces, but they have removed minor surface rust from blades and screw heads several times for me.

[jmj3esq]

Forget the wipes. I think you'll have a very hard time finding treated towels that will remove surface rust. Just use a soft cotton towel with some Flitz. Its will remove surface rust pretty easily.

[Evil D]

Think about why this doesn't exist...imagine taking a typical Lysol wipe and wiping it over a rusty surface, it'll cling and shred to pieces. You'd be cleaning up little bits of the cloth all over the place. Of course it wouldn't be like this for the use you have in mind, but you have to consider what the casual consumer might try to use them for and how that would work out. In the end I'm not sure this would be any better than just using some CLR or polishing compound on a microfiber cloth.

[im25feetup]

Quadruple Zero (0000) steel wool polishes off light surface rust well. Works great to clean glass too!

[Mk-211]

The only thing that will remove pitting is grinding or machining it off.

I use Evaporust for rust removal, it does a great job removing rust. I've never had it affect the steel, I would test it on any type of coated surface.

I recently saw pics of it used on Damascus, it removed all if the rust, didn't effect the etch.

If you have a Harbor Freight near by, go pic some up. I have used it on Q-tips to remove small spots, and to work around logos.

[The Mastiff]

I remember using a cloth rust remover I bought at SMKW probably 15 years ago. I don't remember the name and that site is too annoying for me now. It was yellow and was only good for things like verdigris on brass . Real rust scale and pitting was untouched. Another thing I recall was it seemed like it was about half solvent and smelled pretty strong so I'd recommend some good gloves to keep that stuff from getting in your system. It was pretty cheap and I got a lot of use out of it but mostly not for any real rust. It was great for old oil and grease, glue from old price tags, etc.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Thanks. Regarding pitting from rust on a knife, then if I want it restored to a smooth satin finish, and I do not have a grinder or buffing system, do you suggest I get a Dremel type tool or send it to a knife repair shop that can do that?
Or if it is a Spyderco I can send it to Golden and they will restore it for a fee plus shipping?

[The Mastiff]

Regarding pitting from rust on a knife, then if I want it restored to a smooth satin finish, and I do not have a grinder or buffing system, do you suggest I get a Dremel type tool or send it to a knife repair shop that can do that?
Or if it is a Spyderco I can send it to Golden and they will restore it for a fee plus shipping?

If I can't get it off with Flitz and a rag or at most sandpaper with a block I let it go and just stop the rust from progressing and live with it or get rid of the knife. Dremels won't do it IMO . Buffers might and do things like polishing well but nothing helps pitting except grinding the steel down and I don't bother sending it off to someone with the equipment needed to do it correctly. Cost and time makes it less than worthwhile.

I have several knives with a few pits in the blades that cut very well . They look mostly like a clean blade that has pinhead size pits that are only noticeable when looking closely which isn't a problem for me. I do have to take care to clean the blade off well to keep the pin hole pit from collecting stuff that might re start the rusting but that is the only real downside as far as I'm concerned. Visual imperfections do not harm the utility of the tool.

[Naperville]

Not sure why this thread was moved into Off-Topic.

I found something!

Naniwa Rust Eraser - White
https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/prod ... aser-white

and you could put these liquids on a rag and wipe:

** CLR Brands® Calcium, Lime & Rust Remover, Blasts Calcium, Dissolves Lime Deposits, Zaps Stubborn Rust Stains

** CRC Evapo-Rust, Heavy-Duty Rust Remover, Reusable, Acid-Free, Non-Corrosive, Water-based, 32 oz, Removes Rust to Bare Metal