Always Coca Cola? :)

[Stan S.]

So I have this new tulwar in transit from the UK and from what can be seen in the pictures, there are a few significant rust spots on the blade. While it is nothing that couldn't be handled via my usual means of cleaning, I figured this would be a perfect time to try that Cola thing that so many people are raving about.

I am looking for some pointers from those who use Coke to clean their blades. How do you do it? Should I soak the sword (if so, for how long?) or just wipe down the blade? Anything specific that can damage the steel to look out for? How do I remove/neutralize the effect of a carbonated soft drink in the end of the process? Do you prefer a specific brand or flavor that works best? Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Stan S.

So I have this new tulwar in transit from the UK and from what can be seen in the pictures, there are a few significant rust spots on the blade. While it is nothing that couldn't be handled via my usual means of cleaning, I figured this would be a perfect time to try that Cola thing that so many people are raving about.

I am looking for some pointers from those who use Coke to clean their blades. How do you do it? Should I soak the sword (if so, for how long?) or just wipe down the blade? Anything specific that can damage the steel to look out for? How do I remove/neutralize the effect of a carbonated soft drink in the end of the process? Do you prefer a specific brand or flavor that works best? Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks

Salaams Stan S. ~ Coke is at the lower end of corrosion remover chemicals. Drop the sword in for a couple of days and check it ... it may need longer in which case 2 more days and so on. For rust spot use aluminium foil which works at sub atomic level to remove the spots... It needs a lot of rubbing but is about as non invasive as you can get...Use the foil folded like you use 00 grade paper... Use Coke and aluminium foil and save the planet.. Try these before you step up the abrasives to 00 and also look at pineapple fruit juice and or tomato paste and or lemon salt which I found very effective. Again apply in one or two day submersions and check for effect. Half the trick is to build a decent container or tube in which to immerse the object and so you dont use gallons of coke etc ... I have a long shallow aluminium tray in which swords can be dropped ... That works.. Hot soapy water will neutralise most of these low acids but you can use vinegar as well ... you will likely discover the surface goes a bit grey looking on a lot of these treatments but after a good rub down with aluminium foil and a few gun oil applications it usually helps the patina ~ as normal tread carefully.. Ibrahiim

[spiral]

sugar free coke is better than "full fat" .

spiral

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Ibrahiim al Balooshi

Salaams Stan S. ~ Coke is at the lower end of corrosion remover chemicals. Drop the sword in for a couple of days and check it ... it may need longer in which case 2 more days and so on. For rust spot use aluminium foil which works at sub atomic level to remove the spots... It needs a lot of rubbing but is about as non invasive as you can get...Use the foil folded like you use 00 grade paper... Use Coke and aluminium foil and save the planet.. Try these before you step up the abrasives to 00 and also look at pineapple fruit juice and or tomato paste and or lemon salt which I found very effective. Again apply in one or two day submersions and check for effect. Half the trick is to build a decent container or tube in which to immerse the object and so you dont use gallons of coke etc ... I have a long shallow aluminium tray in which swords can be dropped ... That works.. Hot soapy water will neutralise most of these low acids but you can use vinegar as well ... you will likely discover the surface goes a bit grey looking on a lot of these treatments but after a good rub down with aluminium foil and a few gun oil applications it usually helps the patina ~ as normal tread carefully.. Ibrahiim

Namaste Ibrahiim

I've conducted quite a thorough test with aluminium foil and I have to say that it is effective although only in limited circumstances.
It is good for disguising light staining and does remove very light oxidisation, but I've tried this on a sword where there were actual encrustations on the blade and even the small ones are not removed by the Aluminium foil.
The foil coats them with aluminium but doesn't remove them. You end up with silver coloured bumps.
I've found that this foil technique is best for very minor staining or disguising light pitting.
To illustrate here are some pictures.
The small one shows the 'proved' mark on an 1845 sabre prior to cleaning. The aluminium foil technique isn't really like any other to be honest.
If you used an abrasive cleaner-cream with aluminium in it, you'd polish the surface of the steel starting with the high points. If you use steel wool (no matter how fine) you do start to eventually burnish the surface or leave scratches, and so on.
But a combination of techniques can produce excellent results. The best thing about the using aluminium foil is that it doesn't seem to burnish the steel or leave any scratches or otherwise polish or abrade the steel in any way.
Even on an etched design like my 1845 the foil will remove very light surface rust while 'lessening' any sub-surface rust and leaves the high points of the design completely intact without producing any noticable wear at all.
It seems to be a gentle and effective method that on the face of it has no downside.
However, that said it needs to essentially be the final step in the process, but if you add it to the 'arsenal' of cleaning methods in the 'most delicate' position, then it's certainly going to be something to bear in mind.
I've found that folding the foil so it's 4-6 layers and rubbing quite hard produces good results.
After a while it does wear through and disintigrate. The foil is good to use because it takes whatever shape you want. It does turn your fingers black after a while though.
So, back to the illustrations. I found that the aluminium foil was having no effect on the visible encrustations, so I abandoned the foil and used an Xacto knife/scalpel with a 45 degree cutting edge, to carefully slice the surface rust off.
This is NOT a technique that I would recommend unless you practice it on worthless articles first as the surgical steel can leave horrible scratches on the blade if you are not VERY careful.
As I wanted to remove the rust without damaging the etched designs, it was perfect as it is 100% controlable and I could avoid abrading the high points of the raised design.
Once I had scraped/cut off the majority of the rust, I then used fine wire wool to achieve the result in the second picture.
Finally (and I hope these pictures show in the right order) I used aluminium foil to give the blade a final clean up. As you can see the aluminium impregnates the sub-surface rust and almost 'fills' the minor pits.
I would recommend the technique as a final step in a cleaning process. Or for use on steel items to delicate for other processes.
Interestingly if you rub the finished surface with WD40 it sucks some of the aluminium back out of the surface. The result is still good though.

Best
Gene

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by Stan S.

So I have this new tulwar in transit from the UK and from what can be seen in the pictures, there are a few significant rust spots on the blade. While it is nothing that couldn't be handled via my usual means of cleaning, I figured this would be a perfect time to try that Cola thing that so many people are raving about.

I am looking for some pointers from those who use Coke to clean their blades. How do you do it? Should I soak the sword (if so, for how long?) or just wipe down the blade? Anything specific that can damage the steel to look out for? How do I remove/neutralize the effect of a carbonated soft drink in the end of the process? Do you prefer a specific brand or flavor that works best? Is there anything else I need to know?

Thanks

Hi Stan,

To be honest it really depends on what the rust is like. The best cleaning techniques have to be chosen on a case by case basis.
When it arrives snap some pics of the rust and show us

Best
Gene

[Atlantia]

Originally Posted by spiral

sugar free coke is better than "full fat" .

spiral

Especially if mixed with a little Scotch!

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Especially if mixed with a little Scotch!

Hmmm, agree!

[Mefidk]

I wondered if you guys had any ideas about using commercial metal polish?

I've used one normally used as a chrome or exhaust cleaner to remove most kind of metal oxidation that is around the 00 steel wool requirement or worse (not sure if I should mention its name here). It seems to do this without leaving obvious scratches, and do it fast. The only problem is that if you don't want a polished surface then a rub over with strong soap solution is needed due to the wax they include. If for some reason you do want a polished surface, then 000 steel wool afterwards produces an amazing finish even on poor quality grainy steel

I'm not sure exactly what is in there. There is a fine abrasive, wax and a number of solvents that make rust removal easier, but exactly what they are and what they do, and what the down sides might be, I'm not sure.

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Originally Posted by Atlantia

Namaste Ibrahiim

I've conducted quite a thorough test with aluminium foil and I have to say that it is effective although only in limited circumstances.
It is good for disguising light staining and does remove very light oxidisation, but I've tried this on a sword where there were actual encrustations on the blade and even the small ones are not removed by the Aluminium foil.
The foil coats them with aluminium but doesn't remove them. You end up with silver coloured bumps.
I've found that this foil technique is best for very minor staining or disguising light pitting.
To illustrate here are some pictures.
The small one shows the 'proved' mark on an 1845 sabre prior to cleaning. The aluminium foil technique isn't really like any other to be honest.
If you used an abrasive cleaner-cream with aluminium in it, you'd polish the surface of the steel starting with the high points. If you use steel wool (no matter how fine) you do start to eventually burnish the surface or leave scratches, and so on.
But a combination of techniques can produce excellent results. The best thing about the using aluminium foil is that it doesn't seem to burnish the steel or leave any scratches or otherwise polish or abrade the steel in any way.
Even on an etched design like my 1845 the foil will remove very light surface rust while 'lessening' any sub-surface rust and leaves the high points of the design completely intact without producing any noticable wear at all.
It seems to be a gentle and effective method that on the face of it has no downside.
However, that said it needs to essentially be the final step in the process, but if you add it to the 'arsenal' of cleaning methods in the 'most delicate' position, then it's certainly going to be something to bear in mind.
I've found that folding the foil so it's 4-6 layers and rubbing quite hard produces good results.
After a while it does wear through and disintigrate. The foil is good to use because it takes whatever shape you want. It does turn your fingers black after a while though.
So, back to the illustrations. I found that the aluminium foil was having no effect on the visible encrustations, so I abandoned the foil and used an Xacto knife/scalpel with a 45 degree cutting edge, to carefully slice the surface rust off.
This is NOT a technique that I would recommend unless you practice it on worthless articles first as the surgical steel can leave horrible scratches on the blade if you are not VERY careful.
As I wanted to remove the rust without damaging the etched designs, it was perfect as it is 100% controlable and I could avoid abrading the high points of the raised design.
Once I had scraped/cut off the majority of the rust, I then used fine wire wool to achieve the result in the second picture.
Finally (and I hope these pictures show in the right order) I used aluminium foil to give the blade a final clean up. As you can see the aluminium impregnates the sub-surface rust and almost 'fills' the minor pits.
I would recommend the technique as a final step in a cleaning process. Or for use on steel items to delicate for other processes.
Interestingly if you rub the finished surface with WD40 it sucks some of the aluminium back out of the surface. The result is still good though.

Best
Gene

Salaams Gene~ Yes I agree with all that and underline my rust spot application. For bigger jobs I would be tempted onto 00 grade though I would first hit it with coke fruit juice or tomato paste. I have used aluminium foil and lemon salt successfully. The job on your Wilkinson looks very good and your technique of folding 4 or 6 aluminium foil into a thicker wadd is same as me as otherwise it falls apart fast as do your fingers! This is what I would call the softest technique and is almost non invasive ~ though the step up onto more aggressive techniques is tempting but dangerous and leads to use of highly corrosive acids like car battery and on to Ferric chloride which I would leave to specialists in the black art of polishing wootz. See Notes at Kattara for Comments #167.
In this case what needs to be done is to see the damage first and then select the right gear to fix it... and a simple workshops programme to follow...ending off with wd 40 to clean it up and gun oil and or preservation wax to complete the job. Regards Ibrahiim.

[Stan S.]

Thanks to all who replied. In the past, I have used lemon juice and vinegar on two Indian swords, which I guess acts very similar to Coca Cola. Both swords were completely encrusted in rust and seemed to be in semi-relic condition. After 48hr soaking in lemon juice and a 48hr soaking in vinegar (lemon juice wasn't working), interrupted by vigorous scrubbings, I was able to get ALL of the rust out but it left the blades and hilts looking very flat and dull. While the rust was gone the pitting caused by it remained, and so I was left with a surface that looked much like an arial view of the surface of the moon - "crators" upon "crators" as far as the eye can see I think now I know how to correct this. My wife just bought a huge roll of aluminum foil for her kitchen needs, and I have a couple of free hours today... So I think it is time for me to requisition her foil and get to work I'll post some pictures when I am done.