When our son turned two year old we decided to buy him this sweet ride-on tricycle. We bought this trike with the specific goal of having it for years to come so I needed to know how to remove rust from a tricycle (and bikes – you should see my daughter’s poor bicycles!).
His new bike was shiny and beautiful when we first bought it! But, we live in an apartment and don’t have room to store it inside our home (nor do we want to really) so it got rusty as the wind blows the rain onto our little front patio, especially when it downpours.
I looked up a few different tips online for rust removal ideas and solutions. Some seemed overly complicated, or involved some heavy duty cleaners or chemicals. While I am not necessarily opposed to chemicals for cleaning purposes, why not opt for more natural cleaners, especially if they work awesome? Plus, they are usually much cheaper.
I decided to try out two different methods using some of my favorite natural cleaners – baking soda and vinegar.
How to Remove Rust with Baking Soda
How to Remove Rust with Baking SodaTo remove rust from a bike with baking soda, make a 50/50 paste of water and baking soda. Apply it to the rust on the chrome parts of the bike with a scrubby Viva® Towel. The Viva® Vantage® has a scrubby texture, like a terrycloth which is great for getting scrubbing stovetops, patio furniture, and other grimy surfaces. If you need a little more strength, try using a piece of crumbled up tinfoil.
Using baking soda worked okay, but it wasn’t blowing me away, especially in comparison to the following method!
How to Remove Rust with Vinegar
How to Remove Rust with VinegarIf you want to remove rust with vinegar instead of baking soda, grab a little dish and pour some vinegar into it, crumble up a piece of tin foil, then dip the tin foil into the vinegar dish. The vinegar soaked tin foil becomes your scrub brush. Dip it back into the vinegar as necessary as you continue to remove rust.
When the rust is removed, you can dry it with a Viva Towel to ensure a beautiful chrome shine! You can choose which of two types of everyday towels to use, as both work like cloth to stand up to any cleaning job. I used the Viva® Towels that have a signature soft and smooth texture, like an undershirt cloth. It’s ideal for cleaning delicate surfaces like countertops and coffee tables.
I was really impressed with how well vinegar worked! And it was very easy. And cheap. I finished removing rust from the rest of his bike and it looked so much better than it did before.
If you want to see how else you can use Viva Towels to #UnleashClean around your home, check out how Monica Potter and the Boys and Girls Club teamed up with Viva to help families in need.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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jenny @ Unremarkable Files says
I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t even know you could just “remove” rust – I thought it was literally the surface being eaten away! I learn something new every day.
Katelyn Fagan says
Well, I think eventually that is the case. 🙂 Isn’t learning fun??
Jim says
Rust is the rotten metal itself. Cleaning like that with vinegar will make it shine for a while, but the rust will return soon and faster this time.
Katelyn Fagan says
Do you know how to seal the rust then to prevent it from rusting again? Because, yes, it has rusted again.
Jim says
some kind of oil paint, if it looks okay.
Jack says
Try this. After you get the rust off wipe it dry and then take denatured alcohol and wipe it down. When that dries take clear varnish and add a thin layer of it on your metal. Hope this helps. It works for my tools.
Cecil says
Polyurethane spray
SherriAnn says
Hello, I enjoyed the tips, and I wanted to inquire as to whether or not you used the aluminum and vinegar on only the silver chrome area, or if you utilized it on the colored portions of the bike as well? If so, was there a variation in color difference? Also, were you able to find out if the previous commentary from “Jim,” was regarding a regular clear oil polyacrylic or which paint he is referring too?
My apologies for all of the questioning, however, I am trying to restore a vintage antique Schwinn, and I definitely don’t want to mess her up. Thank you in advance for the advice!
Katelyn Fagan says
You can use the vinegar on the paint, though maybe not with the tinfoil, just a cloth or paper towel. That’s what I did, and the painted part still looks great more than a year later. However, you do need to somehow “seal” the metal from future rusting, because it totally comes back, and worse. I am NOT sure what type of paint or product to use, but have wanted to try out a few myself, on this same trike, which is again very rusted at the moment. However, I keep the trike outside all the time (no garage either) so it’s going to rust. That’s life. Anyway, I don’t know what to tell you about the Schwinn! Sounds like a fun project for sure!
Kathryn Huggins says
Use Rustoleum paint after removing rust. I have used
rustoleum paint on metal chairs, furniture and a metal shed. If you spend time prepping the metal thoroughly, the Rustoleum paint holds up for years.
Pat says
Vinegar is an acid so it will attack the metal if not neutralized using a base, baking soda. So acid clean neutralize then wash to remove the salt left behind, dry thoroughly then coat with either a clear varnish or a high quality carnuba wax. The wax will need to be redone every couple of years. This is how I keep my cast iron table saw clean, I live a mile from the ocean.
Roger says
Thank you
JEFF says
Try aluminum foil dipped in just plain water and elbow grease. I have used this technique on bike rims and it works.
Ben Boles says
It was stated, but vinegar being acidic, I usually wash the area off with baking soda “to neutralize it” and Dawn dish detergent, the dawn would likely be good enough but the baking soda adds a little grit/reassurance since I actually use vinegar to remove rust from vintage parts at times before paint “real auto paint not Rust-Oleum”. If neutralized this is a safe method that won’t harm paint or prevent adhesion of the 2-$300+ per gallon paints we use on bare metal.
Bare metal or chrome, or to get down into rust pits, a very fine piece of steel wool soaked in the vinegar works great. Coat chrome in a wax after neutralizing. Painted surfaces can be waxed too but nothing you plan to coat or paint over anytime soon.
On painted surfaces, it is safe on auto paint, outdoor furniture, enamel and I’d say glossy latex, a flat indoor latex would possibly soak up the rust dyed vinegar and stain. I have used it to remove surface rust from a 50s Chevrolet hood with awesome results. It was mostly brown and after vinegar 90% of the original black paint was still there just had surface stains from small specs of rust bleeding over. Definitely wash it good after on painted surfaces since there are more areas for vinegar to get trapped. ***It will accelerate new rust as good as it removes the old***
Jeffrey Chua says
The rust will definitely come back after the cleaning with vinegar or baking soda. I will suggest after the cleaning let it dry overnight and give a layer of translucent hard coat, similar to those auto finishing. This will avoid the possibility of rust in near future.