The Science Behind Rust Removal with Vinegar 

I’m trying to sleep and some guy with a thing for poorly designed and built British motor vehicles is trying to give me a chemistry lesson. Fine, I’m up now but since I’m awake, you are coming to the bathroom with me.

That was pretty cool ... not as cool as discovering new hidden bits of rust in a Rover, but still worth watching!!! Thanks for sharing 🇨🇦

I came here for the little rage guy but will settle for the little science wizard

Is this the return of the greatest YT channel of all time, some rusty tool needing restoration? The Myford resto is one of my all time favourites of anything on YT.

Geoff... this is carrying your relationship with rust; initially Myford rust, then Landrover rust, to a level of intimacy that might be seen as unhealthy! 🥴 From my viewpoint as someone who found fourth-form chemistry totally baffling, you are either a very clever-dicky, or you have been smoking unmentionables! 😵‍💫 Brilliant video, thanks. BTW: I have got my Myford Super 7 running. My father bought it 72 years ago (when I was five years old), and handed it on to me forty five years back. It has been stored for sixteen years in a damp environment, until I got it back in a very sad, very brown state, about a year ago. After a complete tear-down, paint/rust removal, and rebuild, and new motor, it is a joy to behold. Your video series became my invaluable companion throughout the process... thank you so much! 👍 Plenty more to do on accessories... the fun goes on. 😃

Brilliant! (I love these science videos you make. Really enjoyed the rust removal methods video from a while back too).

Wasn't expecting Bill Nye to show up here, but I'm glad he did. Hoping to see more content in the future. Regards, Silas.

Geoffrey, great video, thanks for sharing

Great content as always!

Very informative. Great video 👍

Thanks for the best chemistry lesson I have ever had, I can now see the fascination for it.👍

Very well done and explained! Thank you

Glad you’re back!

As a watchmaker I can confirm that vinegar does dissolve small steel parts. We use it to dissolve seized steel parts in brass if we can’t get them out any other way. It only discolours the brass but the steel will be gone in a few days. Pretty handy if you break off a drill bit smaller than 1mm in a brass part but it does take a while. Can’t use it to remove rust on such small parts though, or you might loose the whole thing!

I LOVE these kind of explanations! Simple, informative! It often bugs me when instructions just say "use this type of glue", or, "use this type of grease". Yes, but WHY that particular kind of stuff and not some of the nine other kinds of whatever I have. Sure, videos would become veeeeery long... but... I WANT TO KNOW! 😂 Great job with the video and graphics! 👍

Great lil explainer, thanks.

I was not expecting a chemistry lesson when I switched on RU-vid this morning. That was nicely done, I am starting to suspect that when away from RU-vid, you are something of an educator.

What are we being softened up for

Love these chemistry videos! I’m a product of the US education system so I somehow never learned it in school. You make it so easy to understand

Great video!

Hi jeff I like vinegar on my fish and chips. I am glad I use my fingers to eat them and not a knife and fork. I'd be in trouble if I destroyed our cutlery. Love your videos. Your helping me through a 1955 107 resto. Cheers Phil.

This is actually a very good explainer. I was always worried that if i left my parts in the vinegar too long that it would eat away at the base metal. After watching this i don't think it does if i understand correctly. Thank you!

Surprisingly well animated for an old rust bucket channel. Seriously, it's a very nice video. Not sure why you suddenly decided to make a chemistry video though. But I'll watch if you make more.

I used vinegar soaked paper towels to remove the rust from the fenders on the car I'm restoring. I let the paper towels sit overnight, covered with plastic. Worked like a charm!

Welcome back !!!

Welcome a gain nice too see your videos again ❤

Oh, I understand now, thank you, that was awesome.

Fascinating!

Ha wasn’t expecting that. Brilliant.

So what your saying is that with a large enough chipshop and enough time, it would be possible to make the bottom half of a Land Rover invisible, yes?

Well done.

Great explanation. Now i need to know just how electrolysis rust removal works

Thanks for explaining, I used this method on my tools and always wondered how it worked. I had to watch it twice for the electrons to free up, the brain is a bit rusty.

Always enjoyed your videos, your talent is very evident. Never gave any thought to what your occupation was, but now I'm curious as to what your 'day job' is? Thanks for taking your time to make and share the videos. .

Good old first year college chemistry. Thanks for the memories!

U make great videoa please upload more

Get your geek on! Thanks, that was fun.

It seems that owning a Land Rover makes you become an expert in rust. Just kidding Geoffrey, thanks for the explainer. I think I need watch the video two more times to understand it fully. Good infotainment!

Thanks for the lesson! I enjoyed it, and it’s nice to know the science behind it. Probably could do some maths to determine how much vinegar you would need/want to suspend a part in given its size and weight based on that.

That explains a lot.

This is wonderful, doing what many state schoold failed. Just two questions. How much will you need for an old rover? And does it change the smell/taste. I guess its just going to smell like driving back from the chippy. Although with vinigar rather than non-brewed condiment

Fantastic, and a great departure from the regular LR fare - yet still decisively Croker. A nit, though: neutral atomic oxygen has 8 electrons; I suspect what you were trying to convey at ~1:50 was oxygen’s oxidation state, which is indeed -2. Oxidation state is a subtle thing and difficult to explain, depending as it does on _where_ the electrons are in their particular configuration - even in a neutral atom. Excellent video - more; please!

Physics is always more fun with sound effects. Thanks Geoffrey! :)

No bloody wonder I failed chemistry....

Very interesting and an extremely lucid explanation, thanks Geoffrey. One issue still puzzles me though, as we all know, the presence of high humidity or moisture in the atmosphere in our workshops accelerates the formation of rust on all forms metal. I can see this in operation in my workshop during the rainy season every year. Rust is prevalent and accelerated in high humidity areas. So how does this fit into the equation ? if Rust is Fe2O3 where is the H in all this ? We know that Water is H2O so why no H in the Fe2O3 ?

I wish you would have been my high school science teacher 😅. On a side note, I was looking forward to your music montage with some heavy metal undertones. Maybe next time 🎉

Mate. My RU-vid feed says this was put up one day ago. It reminds me of the videos you did a long time ago and how I subscribed to your channel. Is this something new because the Landrover got certified, or is RU-vid buggerizing around? Great explanation btw.

Rover mechanic extraordinaire AND high school science teacher!!! Wow!

A new video ? Does that means the channel will back to live ? By the way, Love you content Geoffrey. And I really eager to see the conclusion of the Land Rover Restoration. I just enjoy this series a lot S2

Great explanation of the science behind the process. I'll retain "vinegar dissolves rust" from your video. It kinda reminds me of algebra proofs. I used to tell the teacher to skip the proof and I'll just accept the formula on faith. I mean why would my math teacher lie? 😊

I prefer citric acid. It removes rust without producing black oxide which requires rigorous scrubbing to remove.

Cool, so that is how it works, nice

So you're saying a Land Rover would last longer if it ran on vinegar. Good to know. Thanks for the videos.

OK so I should fix my rusty trailer by leaving it in a large vat of vinegar. Thanks for the tip!

Awesome video. Are you an engineer by trade or science teacher? I mean we all know you're a long suffering Land Rover owner :) By the way, I always read your wall charts in my shop with a Kiwi accent (in my head). thanks! Can't wait for the next one.

Okay. Brilliant explaining. A question: when people add electricity, is that to speed up the process?

Thank you. Im glad that there isn't any baking soda in this explanation 😌

I found your channel when you started the Land Rover restoration. Never ever I would have thought I would end up watching a chemistry lesson from you. Also, I didn't understand anything apart from acid + rust = no rust. Nevertheless, it was fun to watch anyway

Im back in school. Better expressed than back then. 😊

I got lost at some point so I have a question. Does the removal of the rust leave a vacancy at that part of the iron. Did the rust removal carry away some of the iron? I think I see that it did. Well, it wasn't iron anymore anyway. It was rust. Good little journey of a video. A little boring but good. Shakes up the brain cells. Thank you. I liked the nickel electroplating you did way back. Absolute magic. That was terrific. Seems it's quite expensive to purchase the kit, but so's everything these days. Thanks, Sleep Joe.

Thanks for showing us how to make acetic acid chcooh.

That’s why I use phosphoric

Why is everyone so insistent on vinegar? Citric Acid, is much better, Removes rust in seconds in hot water. And the best one is phosphoric acid But you need to be careful with him.

At 7.04, after several smiles, I started to yawn…shortly after I rested by head on my hand, my arm resting on the table… I woke up at 01.45, my friggin beer was warm, and neck ached like hell… whilst I generally enjoy your videos, I felt somehow the process of dunking a friggin spring washer or a nut…it seemed to morph…perhaps…can’t remember…ought to be less bloody mind expanding, and perhaps more, I dunked the rusty bits in vinegar and it cleaned off the rust… simples…😳

Waiting for Crocker vs Chemistry channel to drop

Woah...... I was suddenly back in Form 3 Chemistry circa 1977. Cool though, when is the lunch bell going to ring?

Timely. I just soaked a p6b pedal box to try and loosen up a rusted solid clutch pedal. Was amazed at how the whole assembly came out… but sadly the pedal is still stuck 🤦🏼‍♂️

Being a Landrover owner, I assume you have your own Vinegar factory too.😊

Wow!

Salutari din Sibiu România

Great video 👍. One question: Here 4:07 the two H atoms are both neutral, so how does it form a molecule? (I corrected my question.)

does it need to be neutralized after you’ve removed all the rust? will it do damage or compromise the integrity of the metal?

Next, a video about Evapor and chelation

If iron acetate is white, what is causing the black colour that remains on the steel? A while ago I used white vinegar to restore some chisels that had surface rust and they are all black now

Welp, that’s my brain over capacity for the rest of the month. 😮

My main question is what to do after removing the rust.. if i rinse off the vinegar with water (to stop the vinegar eating the steel) .. it immediately flash rusts again .. 😢

A fine example of what Land Rover procrastination can produce 👍👍

So vinegar doesn't react with the underlying metal, just the rust?

Your model at 6:30 of ferric acetate is not consistent with the equation. It looks like a compound of 2 iron atoms with all 6 acetates but it is clear that it should be 2 compounds of 1 iron and 3 acetates. At least I think that's how you balanced the equation.

Ahh my favorite welsh guy ... lol Weird coincidence that you post this right at the same time as your fellow countryman posts his " war at home" video . Maybe New Zealand got the internet to work for an hour or so ? :) Interesting vid though , thanks .

I felt like I was in a chemistry lesson in primary school. (In 90s in Poland we had this in 7 or 8 grade (13-15y old) But from practice… in every case phosphoric acid is a better rust remover. I do not understud why someone wont to use veniger. Ok.. if U have some MadMax postapocaliptic engene rebuld to make, veniger U can make from any fruits scraps. But in other cases it no have sense.

This totally reminded me of why I hated chemistry in school. Well done though.

ok but in the presence of water and oxygen, the base metal will continue to rust, and then be eaten away, right?

jefffriiiii ma man where have you been

Thank you for this. Rust never sleeps -- it is a worthy opponent. Does your explanation explain why people complaining about Acetic Acid ruining the base steel when they leave their tools in it for too long?

I used Coca-Cola on an old Ford engine....it worked. Can you do a similar chalk board exercise on this please Professor Croker.

Back to the Land Rover or the Myford please...I didn't understand this 50 years ago in high school chemistry and I sure as hell don't understand it now...happy that it works but it's JFM to me (Just *******Magic)

He is allive. 🎉

Didn't know vinegar acid turns rust into water. Vinegar like Bruce Lee: “Be water, my friend!”

Man, I feel like it’s been two years

So you've bought 200 gallons of vinegar and your gonna soak all your vehicles? That being said, excellent explainer and graphics. Wish I saw that shit when I was in school trying to learn it.

So what you're saying is you should put your disco in a giant tank of vinegar?

Turns out everyday is a school day!

1:56 Dunno man, seems to me that the little Atom dude lost one his slippers. Sidenote: i hate the smell of vinegar. So i'll use literally anything but this to remove rust. I'll even sit there and scrub, if i need to.

Only joking lol great vid as always

All that is needed now is a large container and enough vinegar to submerge a Land Rover in.

I am very smart when it come to mechanical things but that was Greek to me well done video but uhhhhhh I belle you really I Do

By being acidic? Balgamic vinegar works best. Not balsamic, balgamic

Cute, but that part of my brain still doesn't work. Big fan of your nickel plating video though!

Rodney..