Doesn't Simple Green remove rust?

[sham]

For some reason, I thought people had had some success using this simple green to remove surface rust. Am I mistaken? I've just bought some Koala Kare, which I heard was a similar product, but after 6 hours of soaking and some scrubbing, there's been no change?

 

[Kong]

No, it doesn't. Simple Green is nothing but soap. Its very concentrated soap, but its just a liquid soap, mixed with a little acidic water. The truth is the stuff is no better than liquid dish soap and a stiff brush. People love it though, why is beyond me. I guess its a lot like WD-40, a product that has no earthly use, but people swear by it.


If you need a good strong soap, something to cut grease and oil, then Simple Green is as good as any, but if you expect anything other than that from it you will be disappointed.

 

[sham]

Hmm...I dunno how I got that impression. WD40 says it can remove rust as well, but it doesn't seem to do much for it either...
So I'm at a loss, apart from electrolysis, how can I get rid of all this rust?

 

[killian101]

depending what you're trying to clean, this stuff will do the trick:
http://www.turtlewax.com/detail-Chrome%20Polish-47-80.aspx

if not, Permatex Naval Jelly

 

[madmiles]

I swear by phosphoric acid. Just pick it up at Lowes or Home Depot. Dilute it a little and break out the ol' wire brush.

 

[madmiles]

I wouldn't use it on chrome though just bare metal stuff.

 

[650hardtail]

ive had good results w evaporust...toss parts in and walk away...

 

[Tim]

The important thing to know is what you're removing rust from. If you're talking about surface rust from pitted chrome, #0000 steel wool and WD40 will work pretty well.

If you're talking about deep rooted rust inside your gas tank, then you're into all sorts of different ideas / products from the Kreeme/POR15 world to dunking the tank at a rad-shop (an idea I've heard about lots of times but never had first-hand experience with) to electrolysis, toilet bowl cleaner and all sorts of black magic.

 

[Kong]

Tim, I've had tanks dunked in the cleaning tank at the local radiator shop. Coincidence, the place is called Tim's Radiator. POR is a tank coating, its really nothing but an epoxy resin. It doesn't work very well. Phosphoric acid, as noted above, works real well for cleaning tanks and it will probably work well here too. The thing is it will just "dissolve" the rusty steel below the chrome, but the pits in the chrome will always be there. I didn't look at the link to the TurtleWax stuff, but its probably a compound mixed with a Carnuba wax. That's probably your best bet, short of a new set of fork tubes - which by the way, aren't all that expensive.

 

[sham]

Thanks guys, I have all sorts of rust, from rusty bolts and brackets to (hopefully) just surface rust on the exhaust, forks and some in the tank. Generally just a lot of rust. I'll try to find the equivelant of the mentioned products here in Aus and give it a shot.

 

[Kong]

For rusty bolts and such that Simple green works great as a first scrub, then just put a wire brush on the drill and finish cleaning them up. Hold the parts tightly, a pair of vice grips works well. When you've brushed off as much gunk as possible toss them in a can full of acetone and slosh them around, then blow them off. Put a put a little oil on the stuff so it doesn't rust again and you should be good.

 

[diggerdanh]

For rusty bolts and brackets plain old vinegar does a great, though slow, job. I keep a little plastic container of it on my workbench. When I pull a rusty bolt or bracket off the bike I'll throw it in the container. Sometimes it will need to sit in there a couple hours, sometimes a couple days, but it does a great job of removing the rust. Just make sure to use some baking soda on the parts afterward to stop the acid from working on it.

 

[Tim]

I'm all for restoring what you can, but bolts are cheap, and kinda important. Only bolts I reused on my XS were the looooong engine mounting bolts which I couldn't replace easily and were solid as rocks.

 

[sham]

Yeh I'm really only concerned with the engine mounting bolts and brackets ATM. Some of the other bolts aren't really worth saving I don't think.

Well seeing as I didn't have access to power tools and couldn't find any of these crazy acids or products, I settled on the vinegar and baking soda combo. Worked a treat I think.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Much appreciated.