Engine degreaser and Tea

[arutha]

I have been using an engine degreaser for cleaning movements that have been soaked in the dreaded wd40 and for anything that has been over lubricated and is covered in gunk, It does a great job and is cheap, wont hurt steel or brass. Has anyone else tried this?
I was reading that Tea is a great rust treatment, the tannic acid in tea helps to cure the rust, as ever me the sceptic had to give it a try and it does work! It works better if your tea is warm, you can see it working on the rusty part. I dont think milk and sugar would be a good idea though

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Arutha,
That WD-40 sure is tough stuff. Yes I too use engine degreaser. I got tired of ruining perfectly good (and expensive) cleaning solutions. Just one movement with WD on it and the solution is destroyed. Glad you brought up the tea for rust point. I completely forgot about that one (so what’s new?) That’s another good old remedy that I’m willing to bet came out of the U.K.!!!
Thanks…also a note to you Arutha, since your post on your new clock find in another thread I’ve been glued to ebay UK looking at clocks and prices. It’s tough to keep from bidding at some of those prices.
Enjoy,
Bob

[arutha]

Thanks Bob, I know what you mean about e-bay! I am constantly in trouble from my partner as I just cant resist a bargain. Picked up unother today for £13 on ebay. I will get some pics posted soon, nothing special, just an old chalet style I think but it still works! I have found some wonderful bargains at boot sales too, a nice Lenzkirch bracket clock style for £20! It is complete with the original key, pendulum, lock for the glass front and the micro adjustment is complete as I have noticed on a few of these now it is missing. Would be great if I could find a couple of those each week

[arutha]

One quick thing I forgot to mention on the degreaser “Gunk” do a natural green degreaser that is not harmful to the environment. The only down side is it is lethal on skin and sucks the oil out of your hands in just a couple of minutes, my hands looked like I had been in the bath for 3 days so please if you want to try it make sure you wear gloves, you should anyway with normal stuff I know but it never caused me any problems.

[brassy]

When I use Tea, black tea, not herb tea, to remove rust I find if you finish cleaning the part, then rinse in hot water and redip in the tea and allow to dry, the part will not rust when drying !!! Read it in an old watch repair book … it works…

Dave

[arutha]

A friend has just given me an old longcase clock to restore for him, this has been left out in a damp garage and the steel is pretty rusty, after giving it a once over with a wire brush I will let you know how I get on with the tea drying method. Cheers Dave.

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