Q&A for How to Remove Rust from Metal

You can always mix white vinegar and baking soda with some hot water to make a cleaning paste. Scrub whatever you're cleaning with a sponge to help lift the rust.

White vinegar will remove rust from metal. You could also mix a paste of baking soda and water and use that to remove rust from metal.

If the metal underneath the paint is rusted, you’ll need to remove the paint first and then apply a rust-removing solution, such as vinegar or a commercial rust remover. However, if the rust stains are only affecting the surface of the paint, you can probably scrub it off with a cloth and some liquid detergent or a vinegar and baking soda paste.

If there's just a thin coating of rust, it may not take longer than half an hour. For more severely rusted items, you may need to let it soak for several hours or a full day.

Yes, WD-40 is designed to remove rust. You can also apply it to metal items regularly to prevent new rust from forming.

Use a wire brush or chemical rust remover, they're sold at every hardware store.

Soak a rag in white vinegar, bathe the bike in vinegar and scrub with balled up aluminum foil.

Yes. Boiled linseed oil (available in any hardware store in the paint section) has often been used by farmers to coat metal and wood implements that live outdoors.

If your "rust" is in the battery compartment of your remote, it is probably not rust. Many times, batteries go bad when they're left in a remote over long periods of time. They will leak the acid liquid from inside the battery onto the metal contacts of the battery compartment. The liquid is generally clear, but the resulting corrosion looks like rust. Be careful not to get any of this liquid (or dried powder) onto your skin, eyes or clothing. Remove and dispose of the old batteries and clean or polish the contacts and surrounding compartment with a wire brush, a dental pick or small screwdriver, or, in a pinch, use a pencil eraser to polish.

No, they are not the same and cannot be used interchangeably.

Soak in a bucket of vinegar for 12 - 24 hours.

Vinegar is a good non-toxic, natural method for treating rust.

Use the methods shown above, like the lime and salt or white vinegar. Just pop the bearings out and put them in the mixture.

It depends on the grade. If it is S/S 316, I have used pickling paste to great effect, as not only does it remove oxidation, but also pacifies the metal after welding. The welding process aggravates the metal, that is why it has to be passivated.

You can use gun solvent and steel wool or gun solvent and aluminum foil.

Wash it with Steel Wool or Scotchbrite.

Copper does not rust. It oxidizes and tarnishes, but it does not rust. Use steel wool.

Get W-D 40 or a good penetrating fluid of any kind. Wrap the stuck mechanism in a rag and soak with the fluid. Tap different areas with a flat hammer to start movement between the frozen parts.

In my experience, SOS soap pads have worked very well taking rust off lawn mower handles and bicycle fenders, so you should try those.

It should. If it doesn't, use the methods shown above.

Use glass cleaner and steel wool. First, spray the table, then run fine steel wool on it.

Depends how bad the rust is. If it's just surface rust, you can scrub it off with a wire brush and apply a rust inhibitor. If the rust is "eating away" at your rocker panels, then your rust problem is much worse than you can see because it rusted from the inside out, compromising the structural integrity of your vehicle, unless you have a very old truck that is a body on frame design where the rocker panel doesn't affect the structural integrity of the truck. The only way to fix it is to cut out the rusty metal and weld on new rocker panels.

If it's just very light surface rust, spray it with glass cleaner then rub steel wool on it. For thicker stuff, you may need industrial rust remover. Remember to oil things you don't want to rust, it helps.

Use steel wool and glass cleaner. First, spray the chain, then run fine steel wool over it. It should be clean after that.

Take a small plastic bag, just big enough to cover the shower head, and add white vinegar to it. Wrap the shower head in the bag of vinegar and seal with a rubber band or twist tie. Leave in place for 24 hours, then remove and wipe off the rusty paste.

Put some type of vegetable or canola oil on a paper towel and wipe down the strainer with a real thin coat, or just dry the strainer after washing.

Put a wire wheel on an angle grinder. That should get the stain off, but you may have to refinish the counter.

Remove the bearings and follow the article steps. Even if they're ceramic bearings that just had rust rubbed against them, most of the home metal steps should work.

I don't think a fidget spinner can get rusty. I would buy a new one or just try rubbing it off, because they are made of plastic.

Follow the instructions listed in the article above.