I am about to work with some rusted iron and steel. Does anybody have good ways of stopping the rust from continuing and then preserving the existing rust finish?
Tags:
Permalink Reply by Diana on June 24, 2012 at 3:28am what are you rusting? if it's fabric, i've read that you can neutralize the rust by rinsing it in a baking soda mixture (1-2 T baking soda to a gallon of water) or make a paste out of baking soda and water.
whatever it is, you would have to neutralize it some way.
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on June 24, 2012 at 9:50am Hi Diana. Thanks for the reply.
I have scavenged some marvelous rusty items - an old metal trunk, letterbox etc. There are parts where any further rust will destroy their usefulness. I was hoping to preserve the rust I have and let it go no further. But maybe it's like trying to hold back the tide?
Permalink Reply by Diana on June 25, 2012 at 2:17am i'm a natural skeptic, and from what i've read about rust-- it's hard to "kill" or neutralize. I just bought a book about rusting from a person who seems to be a master at altering surfaces with things like natural dyes and rust-- Kimberly Baxter Packwood. she has a PhD in such stuff, I think. http://www.prairiefibers.com/Rust%20Dyeing.htm
she has a blog and you can ask the question there. I'm guess that there really is no way to stop rust, though.
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on June 25, 2012 at 9:53am Thanks Diane. You've been very helpful.
Rust as a process does stop when the film of rust on the surface is thick enough but this only happens on very thick metal plate. If the surface is disrupted or the metal flakes the rusting will again take place. On thinner metal pieces of the type that you have the only thing you can do to slow the rusting down is to varnish the item which will exclude the moist air.
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on July 12, 2012 at 12:11am Thanks everyone for your help... I am not sure what I will do... just slow it down with a sealer or maybe just let it develop.
Permalink Reply by Diana on July 13, 2012 at 1:06am
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on July 13, 2012 at 9:01am Thanks Diana
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on July 13, 2012 at 10:40am Hi Lea, I think those killrust style products may change the colour and character of the rust... I am a bit wary about using them on my beautiful old rusty objects. As for Bunnings, I spend far too much time and money wandering up and down the aisles!
Killrust and such products are designed to convert rust into a solid metal and stop rusting, they will also turn the rust metal coloured.
Permalink Reply by Grant Dowling on July 16, 2012 at 6:12pm Thanks Mike...
Permalink Reply by Brian on July 17, 2012 at 5:28am Rust is just simple iron oxide. the important thing to remember, the only way to prevent rust is to prevent it from being in the open air or water (2 ways it can get access to oxygen)
now as for stopping the rust, once it starts ... you really can't stop it unless you want to remove it. There are ways to retard the reaction (sealing it or using rust retarders for example) but eventually it will start up again.
That is not to say you can't rust something THEN strip the rust for the look of rusted metal without any rust ... then seal the metal.
HERE ARE 2 LINKS to TWO of my youtube videos talking and demonstrating about this amazing product:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIc02QBihJQ&feature=share&list=UUM6N5AOYoyg6eAkbcDWpNFg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zAPZn5TEyM&list=UUM6N5AOYoyg6eAkbcDWpNFg&index=41
So once i have my image printed onto transparency film, I take my Ezscreen silk screen which has been coated in light sensitive emulsion (These sheets come pre-coated so they are ready to use). Place it onto a black board, then place the transparency image on top (this part needs to be done in a dark room with no direct sunlight). I take it outside and expose it for 1 minute and 40 seconds (but time varies depending on time of day and strength of sunlight). After i have exposed the image i place it into a tub of water for around 5 - 8 minutes. Then i rinse the screen out under fast running water until the unexposed area (the black) washes away. I then expose the screen to the sun for a further 20mins to completely harden the light sensitive emulsion.
And this is the completed screen ready for printing. I simply use an old credit card to spread the ink over the screen making sure i do one complete full stroke across the screen (holding the credit card at a 45 degree angle). I immediately wash the screen out under fast flowing water and pat dry. I use fabric screen printing ink which washes out in water (which makes the process easy).

I love this product, their website is http://ezscreenprint.com/ (for full instructions and details on how to purchase this awesome product).
© 2013 Created by Greef.
Skysa Website Social Bar