It’s a beautiful summer day and you’re looking to fire up the barbecue or go for a nice bike ride. But, lo and behold, when you approach your metal or stainless steel objects you see that they’re crusted with rust. The internet recommends a ton of different things, but you don’t want to go out and get anything special and would prefer to use something on hand.
It’s pretty well-known that Coca-Cola is a strong solution to use when cleaning various items in and around the home. But, if you’ve never heard of this before then yes: you can use the popular beverage to actually lift rust from various items. You don’t need anything other than Coke and a piece of tinfoil to get those stains out.
How To Remove Rust With Coca-Cola
There are two different ways that you can do this, but the first requires only a few things and a little bit of manpower. You’ll need:
- A scrunched up piece of tinfoil OR an old toothbrush
- Coca-Cola or Diet Coca-Cola
- A bowl or cup for the soda
The only thing you need to do from here is:
- Dip your tinfoil in the Coca-Cola and scrub away the rust. You can also dip the head of your toothbrush into the soda and use the bristles to scrub away the rust.
The second way you can do this:
- Pour the soda directly onto the area affected by rust.
- Let it sit for about 10-15 seconds and then tackle the rust with a piece of tinfoil or a toothbrush.
Things To Keep In Mind
This at-home remedy is a simple solution to removing caked-on rust from items around the house. But, there are some things you should be aware of when you’re using Coca-Cola.
- Soda is sticky. Regardless of what you use to scrub away the rust, you’re going to be dealing with a sticky solution by the end of it. Make sure that you have something close by to help you lift the stickiness from your items. Another way to combat this is to use Diet Coke. The diet version can be used with the same effects and you won’t have to deal with as much stickiness.
- The citric acid in Coke is known to remove stains while the phosphoric acid is used for getting rid of rust. While these two things help significantly, these chemicals can also corrode the metal. Be mindful of what you’re cleaning.
- If you’re in a bind and need something fast to get rid of that rust then using Coke is a good way to go about it. But remember that this shouldn’t be considered a fix-all solution and there are plenty of other products out there specifically designed for this very job.
Removing rust with Coke is actually just as easy as it sounds, and when you’re in a pinch it’s one of the easiest things you can use to get the job done!
