Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Red Crown Sign - Rust Cleanup

I posted an ad for a red crown sign and a fellow collector contacted me with a sign he had for sale. He sent the pictures below:


As you can see there was a large amount of surface rust on the sign and I hesitated buying it but thought it was a bargain. With a little elbow grease thought I could take this diamond in the rough and make a beautiful gem of a sign.

When the sign arrived I tested a little CLR on it and it had no effect. I decided to search the internet and oldgas for rust removal and came to the conclusion that I needed some Naval Jelly but I did not have any so I decided to try some toilet cleaner as it had removed rust from porcelain sinks, so why not signs? Stay tuned this afternoon for the after shots.

and here are the pictures with just a little elbow grease:


Now I believe I could get the rest of the rust off of side 2 but I will be hanging this on the wall so I am leaving it as is. What a difference a little toilet cleaner can make.


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Scott
Wanted- Powerine and Powerlube items! www.frontrangegas.com

What kinda toilet cleaner did you use? Did you let it soak for awhile, use any fine steel wool etc? Those are great results!

[This message has been edited by chrisbowers (edited 10-14-2005).]

Nice results Scott, the sign looks awesome. I think I'll try it on my next one.

That cleaned up nice! But if I were you I would not tell my wife about the toilet cleaner she will think you did such a nice job on the sign that she will have you in the bathroom next!!!

I have used toilet bowl cleaner a lot on things like this. I also use it to soak brass ID tags and such, then clearcoat them so they do not tarnish. Your sign turned out nice!

super job scott..... cheese

Nothing special as far as the cleaner, just generic kroger brand. No steel wool, just lay it flat, coat it with the cleaner nice and thick. Once it sets for 30 minutes or longer it just rubs off with a scrub sponge.

Thanks for the compliments. I think this is the Nebraska version, can anyone verify that?

Don- the wife does not know about the cleaner yet. I better sneak off and buy her a replacement bottle quick!

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Scott
Wanted- Powerine and Powerlube items!

Looks Greeeaaat.Will try it myself now

Just a work of caution, if the toilet cleaner is left on too long it will dull sometimes the background color, sometimes 30 minutes is way to long.

Can someone elaborate on which product we are talking about here? I've only heard "toilet cleaner". That's doesn't mean anything to me. Please explain.

Some years back, I used "Wink" on a porcelain sign to remove rust. Wink is supposedly made for porcelain but it dulled out any part of the sign it touched.

I've had great results on porcelain stains over the years with auto rubbing compound and steel wool. Is toilet cleaner better?? Thanks.

Paul

Man oh an scott..That looks great. what brand toilet cleaner did ya use. Looks awesome


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Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK and humble moderator

This cleaner is the toilet cleaner that you spray up under the lip to the 'throne'. Real thick blue stuff. The brand I used was Kroger aka King Soopers aka City Market brand.

Scott

SCOTT, I BOUGHT SOME STORE BRAND BLUE GOO AS YOU SAID AND IT'S SEEMS TO WORK OKAY. I LEFT IT ON MY SIGN FOR SIX HOURS WORKING IT A LITTLE AT A TIME. MY SIGN WASN'T AS BAD AS YOURS, BUT IT DID WORK....NO DULLING THAT I COULD DETECT!

THANKS FOR THE TIP!

DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES

Its the acid in the toilet cleaner that removes the rust. Check the ingredients for oxcillic (sp), phosphoric acid, or muratic acid.
Any of them should work, and all of them could cause damage to a sign if left on too long.
I use muratic acid and immediately rinse with lots of water.
Be sure to wear eye protection!!!!

I had a Texaco globe lens that was badly discolored. The white background was a rusty brown color. I tried every cleaner I could find but nothing worked. As a last resort I used toilet cleaner with acid in it. The lens looked like new afterwards!

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-16-2005).]