I would second vinegar (nice, weak acid) as a place to start if all you wish to do is remove the corrosion. If the corrosion is particularly thick, using baking soda as an abrasive and rubbing it in with a sponge can sometimes be as effective as steel wool, while less damaging to the surface which you are cleaning. Soda also has a comparatively low hardness and yields to many common metal finishes.
A rust removing product such as CLR can be effective in removing corrosions of all sorts, if you decide to step up to heavy chemicals. Just be careful to watch it once you've applied the remover to the corrosion, or you may etch your needles (depending on what they were made of).
Of course, the problem remains that the finishes were likely applied specifically to prevent corrosion and as such, the presence of corrosion probably indicates that the finish was compromised. Rubbing the corrosion off will likely reveal just the bare substrate metal, at which point you'd probably need to apply some sort of coating to keep it from simply corroding again.
I try to avoid kitting( My Mother tried to bribe me with the promise of a sweater if I knit the rib, but gave up after four years or so.), but I do know metals. My first guess is coroded aluminium with breaks in the anodising.
Any chance of some pictures? Treatment does depend on the problem.
Hurray for nifty icons! Everybody loves a mad scientist. Oddly, in fandom my two favorite scientist types seem to be Nii and Watari, which breaks my brain a little when considered in any comparison to one another.
Another treatment which can remove many metal tarnishes (and which I'd forgotten) is the use of aluminum foil and epsom salts such as calgon. You place a small piece of foil in a heat-proof bowl, add a quarter cup of epsom salts and then a gallon of boiling water. Stir until the salts are at least a bit dissolved, and add the tarnished items to the water, making sure they are in contact with the aluminum foil. Leave them to sit a while until most of the corrosion is gone or the water is cold. This works spectacularly well when polishing silver or copper (hell of a lot easier than scrubbing it all down by hand). Just a thought, if the vinegar didn't work.
hmm. Only now my brain has got Nii, Watari and knitting all wrapped up together. Why do I have a feeling that bunny-shaped tea cozies would not be unlikely in such a sewing circle?
I would second vinegar (nice, weak acid) as a place to start if all you wish to do is remove the corrosion. If the corrosion is particularly thick, using baking soda as an abrasive and rubbing it in with a sponge can sometimes be as effective as steel wool, while less damaging to the surface which you are cleaning. Soda also has a comparatively low hardness and yields to many common metal finishes.
A rust removing product such as CLR can be effective in removing corrosions of all sorts, if you decide to step up to heavy chemicals. Just be careful to watch it once you've applied the remover to the corrosion, or you may etch your needles (depending on what they were made of).
Of course, the problem remains that the finishes were likely applied specifically to prevent corrosion and as such, the presence of corrosion probably indicates that the finish was compromised. Rubbing the corrosion off will likely reveal just the bare substrate metal, at which point you'd probably need to apply some sort of coating to keep it from simply corroding again.
er... and now I'll quit babbling and run away. XD
Reply
Any chance of some pictures? Treatment does depend on the problem.
Reply
If the vinegar doesn't work, I may do just that.
Reply
And I'm going to try clear nail polish on the needles if I keep the corruption off.
Reply
Another treatment which can remove many metal tarnishes (and which I'd forgotten) is the use of aluminum foil and epsom salts such as calgon. You place a small piece of foil in a heat-proof bowl, add a quarter cup of epsom salts and then a gallon of boiling water. Stir until the salts are at least a bit dissolved, and add the tarnished items to the water, making sure they are in contact with the aluminum foil. Leave them to sit a while until most of the corrosion is gone or the water is cold. This works spectacularly well when polishing silver or copper (hell of a lot easier than scrubbing it all down by hand). Just a thought, if the vinegar didn't work.
hmm. Only now my brain has got Nii, Watari and knitting all wrapped up together. Why do I have a feeling that bunny-shaped tea cozies would not be unlikely in such a sewing circle?
Reply
Oh, I didn't realize the foil trick worked with not-silver. I might try that. A couple doublepoints are already clear with the vinegar, yay!
Indeed. And tiny little owl potholders.
Reply
Leave a comment