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.
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I decided to try out two different methods using some of my favorite natural cleaners – baking soda and vinegar.
You can watch my Youtube video on how to remove rust from a tricycle or keep reading to see my tips and results:
How to Remove Rust with Baking Soda
Time needed: 10 minutes.
How to Remove Rust 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.
- Try tin foil.
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 Vinegar
If you want to remove rust with vinegar instead of baking soda, use the following instructions:
1. Grab a little dish and pour some vinegar into it.
2. Crumble up a piece of tin foil, then dip the tin foil into the vinegar dish.
3. Scrub the rust with the vinegar soaked tin foil.
Dip it back into the vinegar as necessary as you continue to remove rust.
4. Dry with a Viva Towel.
This will 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.