Rusty scissors--best way to remove rust?

To remove rust from metal sewing implements, I have used one of those green potscrubber rectangles (I think they're made of a plastic) soaked with sewing machine oil, and a bit of elbow grease. If that doesn't work, my next step is to use a "chore girl" copper pad - again using the machine oil for lubricant. The last resort is fine steel wool.

Once the rust is removed, you are going to have to be scrupulous about keeping the scissors in super-dry conditions or they will rust again. With some things, a fine coating of sewing machine oil protects them, but you may not want that on your cutting blades.

I've had great results using Bar Keepers Friend to remove rust from all sorts of things, including a set of antique glass drawer pulls where the screws had rusted in the holes. BKF hasn't damaged anything I've used it on. Many manufacturers of high-end stainless steel appliances recommend it. You can find it next to better known cleansers such as Comet.

Doreen in Alabama

Doreen, That's my favorite cleaner for just about everything. It doesn't scratch and work like a dream on my 45 yo porcelain kitchen sink and my 5 year old glass top range. I use it glass wear that gets water spots and stains. It's also great on yucky showers. My cleaner of choice though for my shower is to spray it every day with

7th generation shower cleaner (happy customer) and then wipe it down with a bar cloth. Bar cloths are also the best thing I've ever used on windows and mirrors. Juno

Wish I lived in the States :-( You seem to have good products there.

Katherine in Australia (where I am sure there are equivalent cleaning products too) :-)

*giggles*

That's how I clean my swords!

Wendy Z still Sig-less in Chicago

Doreen, do you use the liquid or the powder?

Beverly

Do you rinse off the blood with cold water, first? *innocent grin*

That is good stuff! I've also used Zud, which I think is pretty much the same formula, but nothing like Comet, Ajax, etc., that contain bleach.

I have used *vinegar* (any 5% variety) to remove rust on old sewing machine parts

depending on quantity of rust you soak for a sort while then rub or scrub with stiff tooth brush (or equivalent)

************* **WARNING** though if your scissors are NICKEL plated the vinegar will turn it *BLACK* then it looks like blackened mirror finish and no known way to reverse this ??

HTH rob

Beverly,

I use the powder...haven't ever seen the liquid in our stores, although I knew there was one from reading the BKF web site.

It really is great stuff. Like Juno, I use it on my porcelain sink. Metal marks on Corningware just vanish, it makes short work of cleaning the burner pans on my stove, and is the absolute greatest for stainless steel cookware (even when I manage to scorch the pan, full of peas that took an hour+ to shell).

Welcome back, BTW!

Doreen in Alabama

Thanks, I'll look for it locally first, and if necessary I'll order some online. I love all my new SS applianaces, but they are the pits to keep clean. And the glass-top stove always looked smeared, no matter which cleaner I use.

Thanks, I have missed this group, and it's very nice to be back home. My dog has even forgiven me for boarding him for

24 days. ;-)

Did I mention that when we were in Washington D.C. over the

4th, that we had to hole up in our hotel due to a thunder storm and TORNADO warning? Yikes! The authorities evacuated the entire mall. They finally called it off in time for us to make it over to the mall, and we found a great spot to sit on the grass and watch the fireworks over the Washington Monument. Gorgeous! Really a highlight of the trip. But then, there were so many special occasions it's hard to choose.

Beverly

Also, be very careful if you have a nickel allergy. I accidentally got myself with my kitchen scissors, and sure enough, the cut got infected and to add insult to injury, the whole side of my hand broke out because of the nickel content. My doc was concerned that the tip broke off in my hand, which it didn't, but there must have been a small amount of transfer from the blade.

Beverly, After I clean my glass top stove with BKF I rinse well with water and I give it a quick polishing with a bar cloth. They seem to keep the smear factor down. It takes me less than 2 minutes to do the entire process. You can get bar cloths in WalMart, probably Target, Sam's Club, LnT, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Costco and BJ's probably have them too. I think mine came from Sam's Club, I'm not sure one of my DD's got them for me. Unlike toweling they leave no lint. Juno

Why don't you take a look at BKF web site, contact them and see how much

you would have to pay in shipping. It may be worth it to you if you want to give their products a try.

They may also be able to tell you if there are stores in Australia that carry it. HTH Juno

Thanks, I'll give your ideas a try.

Beverly

Beverly and Juno - and anyone else - I am considering getting a stove with the glass top. We don't have natural gas here so I am limited to electricity for cooking. (Can't have propane in the city.) Recently, they've begun making 24" stoves with self-cleaning cycles, and my tiny kitchen would like a small stove. I don't cook much anyway, and I have a microwave and a convection-toaster oven, plus way too many small appliances (according to DH, anyway.) I see there's a 24" with self-cleaning and a glass top. I hate cleaning burner pans.

What do you think of the glass top? Is it worth having? Can you use cast-iron pans on it? I love my old Griswold and Wagner pots and pans. My regular cookware is Anolon with that stick-free finish, which I think is fine for the glass cooktop.

I remember stainless steel from back in the days when it was the cheap finish, and I hated it - shows every breath anyone takes within 10 feet of it. It's no longer cheap, but it still shows every touch. I stick with basic white....goes with everything. And it's not dark. I need it not to be dark so I can see.

If I were making the choice again today, knowing what I know now about the (insert major brand name here) glass top convection-self-cleaning oven stove I chose, I would choose something/anything else.

I was perfectly happy for years with a bottom-of-the line drop-in 27" GE electric with coil burners and a non-self cleaning oven which actually was large enough to accept cookie sheets length-wise, which the new oven, in spite of having a "larger cubic foot capacity", will not. I did not like the newer GEs, because the ovens were smaller, probably due to vastly increased insulation to protect against overheating while using the self-cleaning feature. I would happily clean drip pans, or even replace them occasionally rather than deal with the %#@*& glass top.

I am about ready to ask my SIL to re-install the old GE, which I saved for a kitchenette in the still-unfinished basement. Sadly, I had the cabinets and the granite counter tops sized to accept the new larger stove. Big mistake on my part, but perhaps we could jerry-rig something. I loved the oven in that stove, and the burner heat controls were very accurate. The new one *never* allows me to adjust the heat to "barely simmer", and takes much longer to bring a pot of water to the boil.

I doubt that, although I don't use cast-iron so maybe someone else will be able to answer.

I had all white kitchen appliances before the re-model, and I loved them. My cabinets were very dark, so the white was great. I chose a lighter stain on the new cabinets, and hoped that the SS would be a good replacement for white. Now I wish I had saved the extra $$$$ and gone with white.

JMHO,

Beverly

Joanne, You would have to kill me before I would let you take away my glass top stove. There are a few draw backs but not to many as far as I'm concerned. Don't ever let a sugar syrup boil over onto the top. It can bind with the glass. Also an aluminum bottom pan can cause some marking on the burner. I have one skillet that has an aluminum colored bottom and it does mark the burner I use it on. I have a Maytag, one DD has a GE and another has a Frigidaire. Having used and cleaned all three I found that the Frigidaire was the easiest to clean if a burn on was not cleaned up when the stove cooled down. My daughters both use Calphalon pots, I have a vast assortment of brands. I only buy pots that suit my needs, not any one brand or sets of pots. I generally get my pots in a restaurant supply store. I would think that you could use your iron pots as long as you don't slide them across the burners, I would check that out with a dealer though. A self cleaning oven is the only way to go. Set it and it does the work. It's like magic.When my oven is clean I vac out the residue and sometimes go over the bottom of the oven with a damp cloth. I only clean my oven about once a year and it comes out looking great. One other thing is that I use my oven almost everyday. Juno

Joanne, With 2 such different opinions I suggest you see if you can find someone with a glass top and try it out. Juno