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How to clean rust off the bike

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You would be surprised what a razor blade and WD40 will do on rusty chrome as well. Rims, chain rings, cranks, truss rods etc. A good friend shared the trick with me. You might think it would scratch the chrome but it works great!
 
Evapo-rust on chrome.

I purchased a long narrow plastic sheet rock finishers mud pan for about two bucks. Fill about half way up with Evapo-Rust (from Harbor Freight) and rotate the wheel daily for about a week. Works great with no scratching or scrubbing and removes every speck around the spokes.
 
Has anyone tried oxalic acid with painted parts? Does it fade / strip the paint or remove pin striping / decals?

EDIT:
I did some experimenting... I don't have any rusty painted bicycle parts to experiment with so I took some old ankle clips (chain guards) that had rust coming through chips in the paint. One clip was very rusted, the other was only a little rusted. After a short time in an oxalic acid bath, the rust is completely gone. All of the paint remained intact. The clips were originally painted black and neither appeared to have faded or gotten cloudy.

I'm curious how oxalic acid would react with bicycle paint, though.

Here is a photo of oxalic acid working it's magic on my fender struts.
IMAG0097.jpg
 
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Heavier Rust

I recently tried Naval Jelly on an old tandem with pretty rusty chrome. it worked great with 3 applications.I think it contains the above mentioned acid. Just dab it on,wait 20 mins then rinse off with a hose.

Pat
 
I recently tried Naval Jelly on an old tandem with pretty rusty chrome. it worked great with 3 applications.I think it contains the above mentioned acid. Just dab it on,wait 20 mins then rinse off with a hose.

Pat
I think naval jelly is phosphoric acid, which is much stronger than oxalic acid and will almost certainly dissolve paint. It's great for thick set rust.
 
Just a cautionary word on using steel wool. Steel is still steel and even though fine is still tougher than chrome, I messed up a lovely pair of bars with very fine once. The brash brush method works great and is great for getting around the spoke nipples and hard to reach places. I use bronze wool and wd40 and could not be happier, never a scratch. Be careful though as some bronze wool is steel wool electroplated with bronze and once the bronze is worn watch out. I buy the bronze wool off ebay. I guess it is commonly used in boating. Anyway it isn't too cheap but worth the price. It also doesn't shed like steel wool.
 
So far, I have soaked painted rims and a chainguard in oxalic acid, and have scrubbed painted fenders with oxalic acid. I personally have never had it affect a painted surface. It will however discolor or strip other non-chrome type platings found on various smaller bicycle parts, like nipples and hub parts.

Has anyone tried oxalic acid with painted parts? Does it fade / strip the paint or remove pin striping / decals?

EDIT:
I did some experimenting... I don't have any rusty painted bicycle parts to experiment with so I took some old ankle clips (chain guards) that had rust coming through chips in the paint. One clip was very rusted, the other was only a little rusted. After a short time in an oxalic acid bath, the rust is completely gone. All of the paint remained intact. The clips were originally painted black and neither appeared to have faded or gotten cloudy.

I'm curious how oxalic acid would react with bicycle paint, though.

Here is a photo of oxalic acid working it's magic on my fender struts.
View attachment 26704
 
If you use Vinegar be sure to keep rotating the wheel. Vinegar will remove chrome over long periods of time. I put a ND hub in a vinegar bath for a couple of weeks and it removed all of the chrome (basically separates it from the hub and it flakes off.

Evaporust is supposed to remove rust without being corrosive. I've used it a few times and it works pretty well.
 
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