Canadian newbie looking for some cleaning advice...

[phatweel]

Hi guys, I'm new on here. Great site! I live in Saint John New Brunswick Canada (around the corner from the Moosehead Brewery) and have been collecting bottles and cans for years. I sell stuff on Ebay under the name Phatweel. I just recently got into digging cans and am really encouraged by some of the finds I've had so far (flat top Alpines, Flat Top, Zip Top and even a couple really rough looking Cone Top Moosehead Pale Ale's, some decent pop cans, etc). I've been reading the different cleaning methods and did some trial and error on my own and think I'm getting the hang of it (Note... if you can't find Oxylic acid, do not try Phosphuric acid... it will eat your cans! Learned that the hard way). It took some growing pains (I think I ruined a few nice Alpine and Moosehead cans) but I know there's more out there so I'm going to keep going. I've been using a Wood Bleach that I bought at the local hardware store and it seems to be cleaning the cans up pretty nicely. I have a few questions though.

Firstly, I found this nice Canadian Diet Pepsi Flat Top which I can't seem to get the rust off of the top and bottom of. Most cans I find are eventually showing some silver metal after soaking them a while and giving them a light brushing but this one and a couple others doesn't seem like it'll ever come cleaner. I feel like I should continue soaking it but I'm scared I might ruin it.

Secondly, I have a few cans that have some clumped up chunks of rust on them... If I continue to soak them will they eventually shed these chunks of rust or should I be trying something else? I took a picture of a nice Alpine Flat top I found with this condition... see below...

Any advice would be appreciated...
Thanks guys, Tommy

[Leon]

If the Pepsi can itself is clean I wouldn't worry about the lids. Some wire wheel lids, dremel, sandpaper, grind, ect, ect but i dont like these methods. With the Alpine sometimes you can just chip/pry it off with good results & sometimes it will result in a hole. In my opinion 50/50 like Russian Roulette. Good Luck.

[MikeS29]

Also on those "chunks" or "rust nodules" as I have heard them called, some take WD40 and saturate them. Never tried it myself, but I think some have had good luck. IMHO, lids are fine as is unless you really want the wire wheel treatment.

Welcome to the Rusty Bunch!!!

[MikeS29]

Oh, by the way, so who are you rooting for in the Memorial Cup? I gotta root for the WHL team, the Kootenay Ice, even though they are in tough.

[phatweel]

Thanks for the advice guys! I've tried the wire wheel and wire brush a bit but they both seem a little scary in that they seem like they could do more damage than good (in some cases). Both have caused some holes in places that I think probably could have been avoided. They do clean them up nicely in other cases though. The pepsi just seems like it's rusted all the way through though or something and I don't want to soak it anymore because it's already had a few days in the acid and I'm thinking any more will start to wear away the paint.

Going for SAINT JOHN SEADOGS ALL THE WAY!!! Undefeated in 2 games so far... down 4-3 right now against Kootanee as I'm typing this but they'll come back and win this one too! They've already solidified their spot in the finals on Sunday. Gonna be a great game!

[MikeS29]

Got season tickets to the Everett Silvertips, so I have to root for the Dub, don't see too much of the Q except in the Memorial Cup.

Best of luck to your boys, and good luck on the cans

[Paul Letostak]

I soak tops and bottoms in citric acid, you can use concentrated lemon juice. Put 1/8" or so in a saucer, just so the rim is in the solution. Can leave for a couple hours, then hold it under some running water, use a toothbrush, and see what you got! Most of the time, when they are really rusted, you won't get the original plated color back, but you will end up with a gun metal color.

Good luck and welcome!

Paul

[Tom Hoefer]

Citric acid is better for removing the big chunky rust nodules too. You may have to leave the can in it for 24-48 hours and you'll need to scrub the chunks with a toothbrush, but citric is good for that purpose. Good luck!

[phatweel]

Thanks! I'm going to try to locate some Citric acid and try soaking them in that.

Anyone out there have a tip on good places (or products) to buy Citric acid here in Canada? We can't seem to order it online from that Chemistry Store website up here (won't ship accross the border).

[Tom Hoefer]

Phat, you can sometimes get citric from home brewing supply stores. Citric acid is used in winemaking. If you have something like that locally, I would try there and if they don't carry it, I would ask them if they knew of a place where it could be ordered. Before I found Chemistrystore.com I used to get citric at a big liquor store that catered to home brewers. You may also be able to order it at a pharmacy.

[renokenn]

For small amounts you can go to the grocery store and buy concentrated lemon juice.

[phatweel]

I tried dipping a couple lids in vinegar and using a steel brush every 20 minutes or so to loosen the rust. It seemed to work very well! Spent a few hours working on a couple cans but it definitely helped clean them up a bit. It was good for getting the blackness out of the steel. I've been purchasing and plan on experimenting with different products. I bought some concentrated lemon juice yesterday which I've yet to use. I also got a product called "Bar Keepers Friend" that contains oxylic which I'm planning to use next time I get out and find some more cans. I find the vinegar works well but you can't use it for too long as it will eventually eat away at the can. I can't wait to get out and do some more digging! Thanks for all of the tips guys!

I put up a pretty nice Alpine Lager Flat tops up on Ebay the other day. This is one of the ones I used the vinegar/steel brush treatment on. Check it out:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/RARE-FLAT-TOP-ALPINE ... 3f0a6364f1

[phatweel]

Here's some pics of the Alpine Flat Top can I mentioned in the previous post that I used the vinegar/steel brush treatment on. I realize the Ebay link won't likely work a month from now.

I think the top and bottom turned out pretty well. I could have probably kept going and cleaned it up a little better but I was scared I might damage it if I didn't stop where I was. I can see that it's a delicate balance between when to keep going and when to call it quits.