5 Ways to Fight Rust in Your Home

Although rust appears through the natural process of oxidation that happens in iron, it is definitely something to worry about. Furthermore, although it is not dangerous for your health when you consume it through water, it is still not a pleasant sight. Apart from this, it is also a sign of disintegration and leaving it unattended can only help it spread further. For this reason, you need to fight it with any means you have available and here are some of them.

Water and Baking Soda

While some people always look for the answer in chemical solutions, when rust appears in your kitchen, this might not be the smartest choice. You see, this is where you prepare food for yourself and your family, which means that you would be putting everyone in danger. Luckily, with a simple paste made from nothing else but baking soda and water, you can achieve the desired effect without endangering anyone. Sure, this particular option may not work in absolutely every case, but with light rust, it can be more than efficient. Still, while rinsing, make sure not to damage the coating since this may only cause rust to return.

Coca-Cola

Another simple (and harmless) solution you could turn to is none other than Coca-Cola. In its nature, this popular beverage is highly acidic and oxidizing. Seeing how it contains abrasive citric acid, all you need to do is pour it on rust or even better, soak a piece of old cloth with Coke and rub all over the rusty part. If the item you want to clean from rust is a tiny one, you can even dip it in a glass of Coke and leave it overnight. Finally, while you may prefer to use some cheaper variation of Coke, bear in mind that the same effect will not be guaranteed. Although a bit more expensive than its low-end counterparts, a bottle of Coca-Cola is still way cheaper than any commercial rust remover.

Salt and lime juice

Another rust-fighting method you can resort to is using salt and lime juice. However, unlike with water and baking soda, you don’t even need to mix these two before applying them. What you should do is take a bit of salt and sprinkle it all over the rusty part. Then, you need to take a large quantity of lime juice and pour it all over. The reason you need so much salt is that you don’t want it all to get dissolved in the lime juice. A few hours later, you need to come back and scrub this area with an old rag or a piece of cloth. Once you have brushed the solution off, the rust should disappear along.

Vinegar

Like with the rest of the solutions mentioned above, vinegar is something that every household should have by default. Seeing how it is an ingredient in so many dishes, you must have it somewhere in your kitchen. When it comes to rust, however, it’s the most efficient for tiny items. Similarly to what we discussed in the Coca-Cola section, what you need to do here is put vinegar into a bowl big enough and just dip the item you want to clean into it. It really is that simple. While the time needed may depend on the amount of rust gathered on the item, it is safe to assume that if you leave it overnight, by the morning, this piece should be rust-free.

Metal Paint

Scrubbing rust off your metal items is not always the best solution. You see, once the damage is done, you can try to scrub as much as you want, but rust is bound to return one way or another. One of the ways to prevent this from happening is to use metal paint to protect your furniture and household elements. The best thing about this method is that it is effective for both inside and outside surfaces (for example, for metal fences).

As you can see, fighting rust in your own household is neither expensive nor difficult. All you need to do is conduct simple research and then rummage through your kitchen cabinets for the necessary ingredients. Even if you do have to go to a convenience or hardware store, you won’t have to do it too often. Still, this sacrifice is insignificant if you manage to make your home rust-free.