I need to remove spot rust from chrome. Anyone have any secrets? A relative recommended “navel jelly”. I can’t find anything about it on the net. One obscure reference. That’s it! I have also heard soaking in vinegar, but I dont want to soak the whole frame to my bike. Help!!!
CLR does a pretty good job on rust stains, and can be found at most stores (Wallgreens, grocery store, K-mart etc.) Not sure how it does it on actual rust though…
Actually, its “Naval Jelly” and I used to buy it at Army-Navy stores. It worked pretty well but not as well as a wire brush and elbow grease.
Try searching for naval jelly. You’ll get plenty o’ hits.
Remember, chrome is just a plating on another metal. I doubt that your bike is pure chromium (if so, I want your job).
Use a wire-bristled brush to get off the existing rust. Now you’ll have to seal the offending areas. It may not look good, but use something like RustOleum to paint over the exposed parts. Otherwise, you’ll just get more oxidation.
Remember, chrome is just a plating on another metal. I doubt that your bike is pure chromium (if so, I want your job).
Use a wire-bristled brush to get off the existing rust. Now you’ll have to seal the offending areas. It may not look good, but use something like RustOleum to paint over the exposed parts. Otherwise, you’ll just get more oxidation.
There’s always hydrofluoric acid. It is extremely bad to let it touch your skin since it is a potent nerve poison. That’s more of a warning than a suggestion - I’ve heard of a couple of people buying the stuff and treating it like detergent or something, and going to the hospital with deep chemical burns. I don’t know any brand names though.
One last thing:
Sorry about the double-post. It’s this %^&%^&%#$%&& IE 5.5 beta
It’s NAVAL jelly, and it’s a pink gel-ish substance which is predominantly acid of some sort or other. It’s sold in hardware stores or hardware sections of discount stores.
Personally, I’ve always subscribed to the elbow grease method- sandpaper, steel wool, or maybe one of those industrial brillo pads on a drill. I like to physically get rid of the rust, prime & repaint.
There is(or was) a product called “Extend”, which somehow converted the rust into some other substance(different iron oxide?) which didn’t get any worse, and was ready for painting. It worked pretty good on light rust on my old car.
STOP!
The OP mentions rust on CHROME. Unless you want your chrome to look like a skating rink after a hockey game, lose the wire brush.
My guess is that Tri has little rust pits on his fender or whatever. Tri, go to the hardware store for some steel wool … very, very fine steel wool, not Brillo or SOS soap pads. They make the stuff as fine as 0000 (4 zeros) and maybe finer. On the side of the package there is usually a chart that will tell you what grade you need for chrome.
SW + naval jelly should do the trick.
If memory serves, oxalic acid, a white crystal powder, dissolves rust. In fact, it may be the active ingredient in NJ… dunno. It IS the active igredient in ZUD, a rust removing cleanser; you may want to dip or cover your rusty chrome in a ZUD solution or paste – but don’t rub, because the undissolved asbrasives will scratch the chrome. Rinse, then steel wool.
And Jesus, stay away from hydrofloric acid – IT DISSOLVES GLASS!
If it’s just surface rust (it isn’t bubbling away from the surface, I’d use chrome polish , rubbing compound or something like that. If you’ve got heavy rust, you might want to polish the area with fine steel wool (thanks stuyguy; I was about to say 600 grit sandpaper) to knock the worst of the rust off before you polish. After you’re done, you might wax the frame to help keep it from rusting.
Chrome seems to be a fairly dense metal, in that the surface damage might not be too bad even if a lot of rust has been removed, but chrome plating is usually pretty thin and can’t be sanded too much before you cut through to the base metal. This especially applies to stuff like bikes, where the item doesn’t cost that much and isn’t going to see a lot of heavy use.
My Dad had a bottle of Naval Jelly when I was growing up. It never worked for me, but then again it was a pretty old bottle. I like using something with a pumice in it, but that’s just my preference.
ps. I think that hydrofloric acid dissolves bone a lot faster than it dissolves glass. It numbs the area before it does this, so you might not know you were burned until your bones begin to ache. It’s really nasty stuff, bad enough that I stay away from the places at work where they use it.
steel wool is going to scratch the chrome. As are a few of the other things. Go to the hardware store & ask them for something.
I use something called Lime Away, its at the supermarket. Great stuff. CLR was too weak.
ALso, its going to come back anyway as rust bubles up under the chrome.
I’ve been happily chasing rust on boats and cutters for about ten years now, and have gotten pretty good at it. You need to be a little more specific about what you’re dealing with. As mentioned before, your chrome is probably put over some type of steel. I’m guessing that you either have (a) small rust speckles on the chrome surface, that are the result of bits of metal picked up in dirt, on the road, etc., which if that’s the case, a metal polish suitable for chrome might do the trick. Why just yesterday I was using “neverdull” metal polish to remove said rust off some stainless. Or, you actually have rust coming up through the chrome plating (bubbling, flaking). That’s bad. And, while there’s all kind’s of miracle rust inhibitors and primers that are cheap and easy, they usually are temporary and unsightly for brightwork. Rust, like cancer, really needs to be completly removed, with a vengeance, or it’ll always get worse. If your bike is an investment, and to do it right, you may consider grinding that rust out with a steel grinder, and re-chroming it professionally ($$$$$)
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What Chandeleur said is what I wound up doing. Take the part to a reputable plating shop. They’ll Clean, strip, and replate the whole thing. Not cheap, but the results will be what you really wanted in the first place. Ask at classic bike shops and clubs about a good re-plater.
Peace,
mangeorge
Boris B wrote:
Holy Cow! I can’t believe that this is even available to the average Joe, much less as a cleaning agent. Hydrofluoric acid is a ‘bone seeker’ - which means that it absorbs through your skin. When it gets through to the bone causing decalcification and damage to the marrow. I used to work with the stuff and have a healthy respect for the damage it’s capable of.
As to the original question, I’m confused. What kind of bike are we talking about? I thought mountain bike, but others are thinking motorcycle.
Lime-away will also burn exposed skin, as will probably most of the other substances mentioned here. When I worked in one of the food places on campus a couple of years ago, we’d use it to clean out the steam tables at the end of the day… I learned quickly to double-glove when doing that. It’s not nearly as bad as HF, of course… Do not use HF for anything unless you’re a professional chemist trained specifically in its use, or you want to destroy a lot of stuff, including possibly you, or both.