Spuds U Like

[canthus]

Article in my daily paper today includes using a raw potato to remove rust!   Apparently potatoes have oxalic acid which converts ferric oxide (rust) to ferrous oxilate which can then be washed off.  They did a test on an old iron pot and it cleared it all away.  I now have a spud and coke at hand when treating rust !!!!   The spud to remove rust and the coke to inhibit further rust (it contains phosphoric acid).  I can also use them for a snack of chips and pop !! Great

. :woohoo-jumping-smiley-emoticon:

[Geo]

I hope it does a good job or your watch will end up looking a bit tattie! :)

[anilv]

Tea works too...no milk no sugar please!

[bobm12]

How about base metal? Would anything works on it? I received a case completely rusted underneath. It has formed a "salt" like rust and the surface is rough/porous...I believe it has been underwater for some time. Any ideas?

 

I was thinking about giving it a good wash in the ultrasonic with soap and regular water but then I may have to buff and polish...In any case, will coke inhibit the rust here too?

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[anilv]

Hi Bob.. For base metal cases there's virtually no cure, you can only halt its progress. This is not rust but corrosion caused mainly by sweat. Just clean it up as best as you can. After using it, make sure all sweat and mixture is removed before putting it away.

Anil

[canthus]

Hi Bob,  Ultrasonics will only make the pitting worse and as most base metal (zinc/aluminium alloys or brass etc) cases are plated and will likely lift off some plating as well.  I would simply wash in soapy water if possible, rinse and fully dry after wearing.  If you want to repair the pitting then I would clean as above and fill pits with suitably coloured filler, then coloured lacquer to match, or clear lacquer (use the other halfs clear nail varnish!!). Some epoxy fillers contain high levels of metal (Devcon comes to mind) and it may be possible to match colour or even replate over (unlikely to be cost effective in most cases, excuse pun!), but would mean more rubbing down and possible further marking of case.

[bobm12]

Thank you Anil and canthus, I'll be following directions from your posts and show the results afterwards!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[Affnan]

Ahhhh... Spuds U Like, do the shop still exist.. missed the bake spud with toppings. :)