[OT] coca-cola and rust

A little while ago, a few folks were posting "helpful hints" lists
for ways to deal with common problems using household items. One
such suggestion was soaking a rusty metal item in some coca-cola and
then scrubbing it clean.

Well, I tried this yesterday on my tea strainer. It's the kind of
strainer that sits on top of your teacup and you pour the tea through
it, and it catches the leaves. The material is a very fine screen
mesh. The kind I have is very cheap, not stainless steel, and they
tend to get rusty. When I take the strainer off the cup and place it
on the saucer, it's kind of gross to see the black water collecting
on the saucer - rust.

Anyway, after cleaning it with coke yesterday, I discovered that
it did absolutely no good at all. What did I do wrong? I soaked it
for about an hour before scrubbing it. Is this an urban legend? Or
did it not work because I used a knock-off brand of cola (Coke
wasn't available)?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Joyce

I did the coke experiment back in middle school left a nail over night in a
glass and it removed the rust. It has to be real coke to work

Do you have a walgreens nearby Joyce if you can by some CLR

http://tinyurl.com/6n29h it works great in stuff like that item you need
cleaned



wrote in message
...
A little while ago, a few folks were posting "helpful hints" lists
for ways to deal with common problems using household items. One
such suggestion was soaking a rusty metal item in some coca-cola and
then scrubbing it clean.

Well, I tried this yesterday on my tea strainer. It's the kind of
strainer that sits on top of your teacup and you pour the tea through
it, and it catches the leaves. The material is a very fine screen
mesh. The kind I have is very cheap, not stainless steel, and they
tend to get rusty. When I take the strainer off the cup and place it
on the saucer, it's kind of gross to see the black water collecting
on the saucer - rust.

Anyway, after cleaning it with coke yesterday, I discovered that
it did absolutely no good at all. What did I do wrong? I soaked it
for about an hour before scrubbing it. Is this an urban legend? Or
did it not work because I used a knock-off brand of cola (Coke
wasn't available)?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Joyce

On 2006-03-24, penned:

Anyway, after cleaning it with coke yesterday, I discovered that it
did absolutely no good at all. What did I do wrong? I soaked it for
about an hour before scrubbing it. Is this an urban legend? Or did
it not work because I used a knock-off brand of cola (Coke wasn't
available)?


Well, this article seems to debunk a lot of the "cleaning" uses of
coke:

http://www.truthminers.com/hoaxarticles/coke.htm

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

I've never tried coke with rust, it works well with calcium deposits
though.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Matthew AKA NMR \( NO MORE RETAIL \)" 10 points a troll @linethetrollsup.com wrote:

I did the coke experiment back in middle school left a nail over night in a
glass and it removed the rust. It has to be real coke to work

Do you have a walgreens nearby Joyce if you can by some CLR

What's CLR?

I was at a supermarket, and the real Coke came in big packs of 24 cans.
They didn't allow me to buy one single can - I would've had to open up
the package. So I bought the supermarket brand, which they sold in a
vending machine.

Thanks,
Joyce

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Well, this article seems to debunk a lot of the "cleaning" uses of
coke:
http://www.truthminers.com/hoaxarticles/coke.htm

This article didn't seem to have any comment about whether Coke cleaned
rust. All it said was: "To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked
in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes. Same to same."

I don't understand what "Same to same" means.

Joyce

Victor Martinez wrote:

I've never tried coke with rust, it works well with calcium deposits
though.

Hmmmm.... in taht case, think what it does to your TEETH!


--
NewsGuy.Com 30Gb $9.95 Carry Forward and On Demand Bandwidth

wrote in message
...
A little while ago, a few folks were posting "helpful hints" lists
for ways to deal with common problems using household items. One
such suggestion was soaking a rusty metal item in some coca-cola and
then scrubbing it clean.

Well, I tried this yesterday on my tea strainer. It's the kind of
strainer that sits on top of your teacup and you pour the tea through
it, and it catches the leaves. The material is a very fine screen
mesh. The kind I have is very cheap, not stainless steel, and they
tend to get rusty. When I take the strainer off the cup and place it
on the saucer, it's kind of gross to see the black water collecting
on the saucer - rust.

Anyway, after cleaning it with coke yesterday, I discovered that
it did absolutely no good at all. What did I do wrong? I soaked it
for about an hour before scrubbing it. Is this an urban legend? Or
did it not work because I used a knock-off brand of cola (Coke
wasn't available)?

Nthe knock-off brand may not be acidic. Its really the acid in coke that is
the active ingredient in rust removal, although the carbonation helps 'lift'
the rust (but so would a brush!)

Ok Here's something you can do to remove the rust: make a paste out of fine
salt (like cooking salt) and lemon juice or white vinegar. Smother the tea
strainer with the paste, trying to force th epaste through the mesh with
your thumbs. When its nicely smothered, leave in a warm place for a few
hours, then rinse clean.

However, it might not be rust, it might be tannin, from the tea. You could
try the salt paste above, but if that doens't work, then soak the thing
overnight in a water with some baking soda in it.

Failing that, it might be just easier and cheaper overall to get a new tea
strainer.

Good luck,

Yowie

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
Well, this article seems to debunk a lot of the "cleaning" uses of
coke:
http://www.truthminers.com/hoaxarticles/coke.htm
This article didn't seem to have any comment about whether Coke cleaned
rust. All it said was: "To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked
in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes. Same to same."
I don't understand what "Same to same" means.
Joyce

This may seem unsympathic, Joyce....but AFAIC Coke is for drinking!
When I was a kid, we put peanuts in the bottle (you, too, Matt?).
My tea strainer is silver and never gets nasty or rusts. Stainless is
also good. Did you know they sell little loose-woven cloth bags (each
one big enough for one cup) you put loose tea in to brew and then
discard? If I were you, I'd abandon ship w/that strainer you describe.

"Yowie" wrote in message

However, it might not be rust, it might be tannin, from the tea. You could
try the salt paste above, but if that doens't work, then soak the thing
overnight in a water with some baking soda in it.

I'd bet its that too. The stuff that makes a brown stain inside a container
tea has been in looks a great deal like rust. And I wouldn't think a tea
strainer would be made from anything that would rust.

Vinegar will take off tannin stains. Try soaking it in vinegar overnight.

Jo