Thread: White vinegar vs rust

My question is about white vinegar the questions is. Is it safe to leave multiple blades in white vinegar and does the white vinegar eat at blades cause it is a acid

Anything that will attack rust will have acid in it,any acid will,over time etch steel.
Everyone is seeking the magic bullit for rust removal,no such chemical exsists IMO. that will not degrade the underlying steel.It takes fine abrasives and one hell of alot of handwork to restore any razor.
As with most things in life,doing things by hand is the best way.

How long is too long to leave the blade in the vinegar

I did an experiment on a junk blade. I left it in over night. Um, that was too long for that blade. It basically destroyed the edge, turing it into flakes. But as was mentioned before, elbow greese....ah, that was not what you were asking.

That's what I have now is a junk blade I the vinegar and elbow Grease is always required in making art but my young hands are starting to be cramping so I figured I'd try something I help out and eventually I will get a buffer and I'll use that

Muzzleloaders sometimes use vinegar to gray their barrels as an alternative to browning. That should give you an idea how strong vinegar is to carbon steel. I wouldn't use it on a razor.

Well I'll figure out what king of buffers I need then instead of the vinegar

Yup. I have to agree with the above statements. The best way to restore a razor is to do it with your heart in it, and not look for something magical.

I believe the same thing happened with penicillin....looking for something magical that it.

Better to give your hands a rest, and then go back at it.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Anything that will attack rust will have acid in it,any acid will,over time etch steel.
Everyone is seeking the magic bullit for rust removal,no such chemical exsists IMO. that will not degrade the underlying steel.It takes fine abrasives and one hell of alot of handwork to restore any razor.
As with most things in life,doing things by hand is the best way.

Thank you

I am really glad somebody else said it besides me, If you go back through the search feature here on SRP you will find at least 100 threads on some "Magic liquid" to remove rust from razors,, The latest one is the Molasses thread... Not one of these has worked since 2005 on razors, even if it magically removed the rust and left the steel you would have a dull finish and pitted steel... With that result you still have to either Buff or Sand to remove that so where is the advantage

I have read every one of these threads and will watch the Molasses one as it progresses, maybe the 1-2-3 month routine is the trick...


BTW the fastest way to remove active rust on a razor is with a single edge razor blade, you can cut it right off and get a good look at what is underneath in about 30 seconds...

Last one I did, I went to the Auto Store and got some metal polishing sandpaper, started with 220 then moved to 400, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, then finished with 2500 before going to 2 buffing compounds. All using good old arm power. Took me three hours on the blade, but now she's purty! I will tell you what, the hardest part was getting the buffing compound on my rag. I ended up shaving it with a knife, and kind of melting it to my rag with my power sander (velcro to the rag). Then pumped the arm, wife wasn't too happy - I cut myself three times in the process, and I thought I was being careful! The next one was easier, only one cut, and the third no cuts at all.