Removing rust from plastic surfaces

mariesnowgoose

Full Member

Messages
864
This is a bit of a cheat post as the rust I've just removed this morning is on melamine shelving in a cupboard at home..

BUT... this will apply to all sorts of plastic surfaces and there are plenty of those in our motorhomes!

The cupboard I've just cleaned out had some stains on the shelf due to a metal tin of 'brasso' having rusted on the base over time.

So I dobbed a sprinkling of bicarbonate of soda onto the rust stain and added a couple of dashes of white vinegar to it.
Took some kitchen roll and rubbed the mixture together over the rust; the result was instantaneous & miraculous!
Wiped the mixture off with a clean damp cloth and the shelf is now as brand new.

I reckon this mixture will clean all sorts of other stains & not just rust.

Happy scrubbing, folks! :)

PS. what I like about this is uses natural products instead of the nasty cleaning chemicals that are used in vast quantities everywhere - and this mixture works better and faster than any of them imho.
 
Last edited:
I prefer an angle grinder myself Marie or a wire wheel on the drill, not as house proud as you though :)
 
I prefer an angle grinder myself Marie or a wire wheel on the drill, not as house proud as you though :)

er... you haven't seen the state of my house, Neil, house proud is not a term I would apply to it! ;):ROFLMAO:
 
Vinegar has long been known to clean rust,try dropping some rusty nuts/bolts in it and they will come out clean next day,well done you for the tip mariesnowgoose.
 
I used Mr Muscle oven cleaner on my fibreglass roof. Brought it up a treat and with little effort.

Not that I would recommend this as it is probably quite abrasive, but it certainly worked.
 
There is a f/glass boat cleaner for that,very good it is to.

Now you mention it Trev, I think I have used it before. Quite expensive as I recall (as are most things to do with boats!) but as you say very good.

Can't remember what it's called though.
 
Is it Wet and Forget Rob? Reading about it recently it sounds brilliant though, as you say a bit pricey.
 
I know you sometimes have to use nasty chemical products like Mr Muscle, so I'm not being evangelical and saying stop using them, but finding alternative, less damaging cleaners is maybe better for everyone? Just sayin'

We're probably all trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted and raced round the world several times over anyway, but there is only one world...

Like the chemical liquid sold for use in cassette loos etc. Neil still uses it in our camper when he does 'loo duty' instead of me, and we have some right royal disagreements about it. There are alternatives which have been discussed ad infinitum over the years in other threads.

I still put bleach down the loo at home though, so I definitely ain't Mrs Totally Green! :)
 
I know you sometimes have to use nasty chemical products like Mr Muscle, so I'm not being evangelical and saying stop using them, but finding alternative, less damaging cleaners is maybe better for everyone? Just sayin'

That's why I said I wouldn't recommend it Marie.

At the time, I had some very thick black, tar like marks on the roof (don't have a clue where they came from). I tried all sorts of stuff to get rid of them but none seemed to work.

The Mr Muscle got rid of it in seconds.
 
Whilst the Mr. Muscle oven cleaner obviously worked out well for you, I thought it might be of use in my own armoury of cleaning materials, so did a quick google. The results would discourage me though.

The instructions state for indoor use only, not for outdoor use. The main ingredient being sodium hydroxide which is particularly damaging to eyes (google source) which is probably the reason not to use it outside. I assume this is to avoid wind blown vapour contacting your face, hands and eyes. Another googled source seems to indicate that it can generate heat (although I don’t know how hot) if it is in contact with acid or water. It is also regarded as very corrosive. As it is effectively caustic soda although I dare say well diluted in the product, I think I will give it a miss.

Davy
 
Whilst the Mr. Muscle oven cleaner obviously worked out well for you, I thought it might be of use in my own armoury of cleaning materials, so did a quick google. The results would discourage me though.

The instructions state for indoor use only, not for outdoor use. The main ingredient being sodium hydroxide which is particularly damaging to eyes (google source) which is probably the reason not to use it outside. I assume this is to avoid wind blown vapour contacting your face, hands and eyes. Another googled source seems to indicate that it can generate heat (although I don’t know how hot) if it is in contact with acid or water. It is also regarded as very corrosive. As it is effectively caustic soda although I dare say well diluted in the product, I think I will give it a miss.

Davy

I was blissfully unaware of the above, so thanks for that. (although I did suspect it probably wasn't the best stuff to use).

I appear to have got away with it with no damage to either me or the van and it did do a very good job. Hopefully I won't have anything so difficult to remove in future.

Thanks again.
 
I had a Saab years ago that had OEM alloy wheels with some parts painted gold and was a real pain to clean until I discovered I could coat them in oven cleaner, leave for a while then wash off with the hose pipe :)
 

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top