Thread: Rust removal disaster

Hey all,

On my practice razor I tried to remove some light rust spots, I went out and purchased some spray on liquid to take care of it. It says to spray it on, and when the rust turns purple swipe, rinse, repeat. I did that, but the blade now looks all 'dark grey' instead of shiny.

What can I do to repair this, if at all possible? It's really freaky.. As it's a practice razor, please tell me the best steps to take, so I learn it the right way from the start hehe

Sandpaper plus elbow grease. Start with a low grit and work your way up to 1500 or 2000. Don't move to the next higher grit until all the scratches from previous grits are removed.

If you don't mind the look of the grey patina, you can probably leave it as is... when you hone the razor the bevel (and spine) will be shiny though.

No need to panic. Get a polishing paste for steel such as Maas, that should take care of the patina on your razor. With a bit of buffing, your blade will be shiny again.

Originally Posted by Jantjeuh

Hey all,

On my practice razor I tried to remove some light rust spots, I went out and purchased some spray on liquid to take care of it. It says to spray it on, and when the rust turns purple swipe, rinse, repeat. I did that, but the blade now looks all 'dark grey' instead of shiny.

What can I do to repair this, if at all possible? It's really freaky.. As it's a practice razor, please tell me the best steps to take, so I learn it the right way from the start hehe

Sounds like that spray contains muriatic acid. That's the effect I get when I put something made out of metal into muriatic acid, anyway. You can polish it off, but if you dont have a polisher (bench grinder with buffing wheels), it may take a while.

If its a super light patina, a potato with some baking soda on it. It's a common cure for high carbon steel kitchen cutlery.

Most of these suggestions should work.
Rust removers are phosphoric acid based so what you see is black/grey iron phosphate.
Metal polish is the gentlest first choice followed by scotchbrite then wet n dri if its real deep.

BTW soaking steel in Coca-cola will cause the same discoloration by converting the oxide. Its much weaker than rust converters but a lot cheaper.