Do-it-Yourself: Rust Removal

People living in amity or any place with hard/salty water for that matter, suffer with unwanted rust on their stainless steel utensils.

Even a good quality steel will start to rust, given proper conditions like exposure to hard water.

At the initial stages, it is only a surface rust and may not have done any visible damages to steel.
If left un-attended, it will go deep and create pits in the utensils.

The easiest way to remove surface rust is with baking soda (NaHCO2 - sodium bicarbonate). It is called as 'soda maavu' in tamil. Available in local provision stores.

Below is an example with a good quality steel knife that started to rust on exposure to our Amity water :-)

At this stage it is only surface rust.

Tools Required:    Baking Soda
Labour Intensity:  Very Mild

Risk of Injury:      Minor

Time Required:     5 minutes

Step 1: Apply baking soda

Apply a paste of baking soda and water on the rusted area.

Step 2: Scrub the rust

 

Scrub the rust with mild force. Use scotch brite or other hard scrub pad if the rust is deep seated.

You should not apply excessive force as the steel will get scratched.

Step 3: Wash the knife/utensil

 

Use plain water and wash the knife and see the rust disappear.

To protect the steel utensils from getting rust spots, wipe the utensils dry after washing it. It is an additional effort but atleast it will keep the rust away.