Cleaning bath - standing rigging?

[andreas.mehlin]

I have all my rigging down....any good suggestions how to give it a good clean from rust stain? Put it in a bath with some acid etc?

[roverhi]

Oxalic acid but you'd need a large tub and quite a bit of the acid especially if your rigging is 1/4" or more.

[s/v Jedi]

We love the powdered form of Barkeepers Friend

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

We love the powdered form of Barkeepers Friend

I too, recommend Barkeepers Friend.
FWIW:
The Bar Keepers Friend ingredients in the Cleanser & Polish powder and their Cookware Cleanser & Polish are:
Feldspar (abrasive)
Linear Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate (DDBSA)
Oxalic Acid
The Bar Keepers Friend ingredients in the Soft Cleanser are:
Water
Feldspar
Oxalic Acid
Citric Acid
Polymeric Dispersant
Nonionic Surfactant
Orange/Lemon Scent

[Pete7]

Baking soda and white vinegar mixed together produce a good reaction and a paste to brush on, leave for a while and then polish with a pan scourer. Wash off with water. Did a really good job of a second hand S/S arch I bought which had been stored in a workshop for some time and covered in grime, paint flecks and grease etc.

Do we have any chemists in the house to explain how this works?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Baking soda and white vinegar mixed together produce a good reaction and a paste to brush on ...
... Do we have any chemists in the house to explain how this works?

It doesn't, really.
I’m NOT a chemist, but FWIW:
Baking soda helps with cleaning in two ways. As a mild alkali, it helps get rid of dirt and grease. If you keep it as a powder or paste, it has a mild abrasive effect that helps you gently scour surfaces.
The mild acidity in vinegar is what makes it effective on various surfaces.
While each ingredient is a mildly effective cleaner on its own, combining them can sometimes neutralize the effects. Basically, after the big fizzy reaction, the combination may have little more effect than water on the cleaning situation.When you combine baking soda and vinegar, you mix an acid (vinegar) and a base (baking soda) which creates salty water and carbon dioxide gas.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. It consists of a sodium atom, a hydrogen atom, and a carbon dioxide molecule. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid and water, or dilute acetic acid. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. When you mix together a base and an acid together with a solvent (water in this case), an acid-base reaction occurs. The acid has a proton, a positively charged hydrogen atom, that it would love to get rid of. The base would love to get ahold of a proton. So, in this case, the acetic acid gives up a proton to the sodium bicarbonate.
Since the baking soda is actually being mixed with water, it breaks apart into a sodium ion and a bicarbonate ion. The acetic acid gives up its proton (a hydrogen atom) and carbon dioxide gas (the bubbles) and sodium acetate are formed (acetate salt). Since the carbon dioxide is simply bubbling off into the air, what you are left with is sodium acetate and water. Basically, you have water and a little salt.
Either the baking soda, or the vinegar, would have been more effective on their own.

[Pete7]

Wow and you said you weren't a Chemist



Pete

[oleman]

Same opinion I got from our cleaning ladies special shower cleaning solution of Baking soda and vinegar.. Did nothing for our dirty shower, she actually got it clean with muscle power and tenacity.

[billknny]

Errr.... if your standing rigging is so rusty you need to clean it... might it not be time to replace it???

Even a little rust down inside the swages is a big problem for the integrity of the rig.

If you have a small boat on a lake, sure sail it until the rig breaks. If you want to cross oceans a failed rig can kill.

[SailFastTri]

Originally Posted by billknny

Errr.... if your standing rigging is so rusty you need to clean it... might it not be time to replace it???

Even a little rust down inside the swages is a big problem for the integrity of the rig.

If you have a small boat on a lake, sure sail it until the rig breaks. If you want to cross oceans a failed rig can kill.

A rigging failure with even a small mast can cause a serious and permanent injury.

[jhulmer]

Originally Posted by GordMay

It doesn't, really.
I’m NOT a chemist, but FWIW:
Baking soda helps with cleaning in two ways. As a mild alkali, it helps get rid of dirt and grease. If you keep it as a powder or paste, it has a mild abrasive effect that helps you gently scour surfaces.
The mild acidity in vinegar is what makes it effective on various surfaces.
While each ingredient is a mildly effective cleaner on its own, combining them can sometimes neutralize the effects. Basically, after the big fizzy reaction, the combination may have little more effect than water on the cleaning situation.When you combine baking soda and vinegar, you mix an acid (vinegar) and a base (baking soda) which creates salty water and carbon dioxide gas.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. It consists of a sodium atom, a hydrogen atom, and a carbon dioxide molecule. Vinegar is a solution of acetic acid and water, or dilute acetic acid. Baking soda is a base and vinegar is an acid. When you mix together a base and an acid together with a solvent (water in this case), an acid-base reaction occurs. The acid has a proton, a positively charged hydrogen atom, that it would love to get rid of. The base would love to get ahold of a proton. So, in this case, the acetic acid gives up a proton to the sodium bicarbonate.
Since the baking soda is actually being mixed with water, it breaks apart into a sodium ion and a bicarbonate ion. The acetic acid gives up its proton (a hydrogen atom) and carbon dioxide gas (the bubbles) and sodium acetate are formed (acetate salt). Since the carbon dioxide is simply bubbling off into the air, what you are left with is sodium acetate and water. Basically, you have water and a little salt.
Either the baking soda, or the vinegar, would have been more effective on their own.

Sure Sound Like a Chemist!

[stainless guy]

Stainless pickling paste atox 71e is hydroflouric acid. Works very well

Use sparingly on buffed components as it will remove the shine

[jhulmer]

Hull cleaner has Oxalic Acid. I've never tried it for this application but it works great to remove the scum line. Might be worth a test.


Instant Hull Cleaner

[Jim Cate]

Most hardware stores sell oxalic acid crystals, usually labeled as wood bleach or concrete cleaner, etc. When purchased this way it is VERY inexpensive. Mix up a couple of ounces of the powder in a gallon or so of warm water (makes it dissolve better) and wipe the wire with a sponge full of the solution, or if possible, soak the wire in a tub full. Won't hurt the w ire at all and will remove minor rust stains quickly.

As mentioned upthread, if there is significant rusting, the wire and/or the swaged fittings are suspect.

Jim

[andreas.mehlin]

No its not that bad...but you know...when a boat has been sitting for a very long time on the hard....it isn't cleaning itself...so stains keeps being there.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Most hardware stores sell oxalic acid crystals, usually labeled as wood bleach or concrete cleaner, etc. When purchased this way it is VERY inexpensive. Mix up a couple of ounces of the powder in a gallon or so of warm water (makes it dissolve better) and wipe the wire with a sponge full of the solution, or if possible, soak the wire in a tub full. Won't hurt the w ire at all and will remove minor rust stains quickly.

As mentioned upthread, if there is significant rusting, the wire and/or the swaged fittings are suspect.

Jim