Cleaning rust off stanchion bases

[PLKennedy]

As we all know, stainless steel does have rust form on account of impurities.  I have noticed on the bases of the stanchions, there is some rust.  I am going to try some Bartender's Friend on a brush to remove it.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  

Also, what to do to keep the rust streaks off the stanchions themselves?

Peter

PS  Great East Coast Rendezvous!

[dave davis]

Peter, with a new boat # 1590, I'm suprised that you are showing rust already. If its around the head of the bolts, I would check the bolts with a magnet to see if they used an austenitic type stainless, which should only be very slightly magnetic. To answer your question, I have used a chrome polish that you can get at a auto parts store, or plane old rubbing coumpound. Once you get the stanchions clean, a trick I leard from ? was to rug down the stanchions with wax paper every time you take out the boat. Personally that becomes too much work for me but if your real fussy and have the time, it sure makes them look good.
 :rolleyes:

[jmnpe]

One relatively painless way to get off rust if it isn't allowed to get too bad is the non-scratch version of Soft Scrub. Just cover the rusty area in Soft Scrub, let is sit for a while, and then just hose it off with water and a little rubbing or brushing.

To prevent rust, you have to seal the stainless from air. One thing that works really well for this is Island Girl Simply Brilliant Super Wax. You can apply a very thin coat to clean stainless and it will keep it basically air-tight for a year or more unless it is in an area that gets lots of abrasion. Island Girl also has a brand new product coming out that will be even better for this type of sealing on very smooth, non-porous surfaces. If you want to know more about the Island Girl products, send me an email direct.

[plkennedy]

John, your e-mail address wouldn't take.
What is the information on Island Girl?

Peter

[jmnpe]

Peter,

Sorry: I assumed that you knew the "secret hand-shake" to decode the listed email address. Mine is jmnpe@flash.net.

John

[chudave]

What I found is when my boat was new I tended to get rust easily.  I used to polish all the stainless at least every two months and sometimes every month.  But now, over time, I can go 4 months or more without having to polish.

I attributed it to a "build-up" of protectant over time, but maybe stainless get's seasoned somehow over time.

I have used BKF on the stanchion bases when it's in the bolts and I need a brush.  There was tech note on it I believe a while back.  But I always polish back over it with a good polish like Flitz, Meguires or Collonite.

Dave Chu

[Dutch lion]

In a hardware store in Belize I found a liquid called osflow which took rust of stanchions and fibreglass instantly. It is a greenish looking liquid made in the USA and is mainly used for removing rust from metals in preparation of priming and painting. I have not seen it in the US but I have not looked for it either.
After removing the rust wax the surfaces for furher rust protection.
Remember , stanchions are made of stain less!steel not no stain steel!
Leo Missler

[Gary Wilson]

There is a stainless steel polish called Wichinox (make by Wichard) that I tried last month and it works very well.  It's mechanism is to replace the passivating layer on the surface that may have rubbed off since manufacture.  I am not a chemist, so I don't know how it works, but it shined up my compass housing and stern pulpit very well.

Gary Wilson
Childsong #138

[Stu Jackson]

Regular boat wax, sometimes the kind with teflon in it (minimum abrasives) works well for us.  Sounds like the Island Girl concept is a great solution, will give it a try.