Cleaning Tarnished Tin At Home

Tin is a very frequently used metal at home for a number of purposes. You may have bought a utensil made of tin or maybe a table rack made of the metal. This is because tin is one of the most widely available metals, as well as cheap and durable. However, it often happens that it gets “tarnished”, that is, sometimes its sides may crumble a bit or may have shown a rusty appearance. If you try to wash the rusted area with a bit of liquid soap and water, the rust will stay behind. Remove only the crumbled part of the tin from the surface. Thus, for eliminating the rust complete using homemade products, you can follow the procedure below.

Thing you’ll need:

1. A soft scrubber (make sure that it is not too rough or it may damage the metal surface)
2. Non-gel toothpaste or toothpaste powder
3. Baking soda
4. Potatoes (as required) or a citrus fruit (lemon, lime etc.)
5. A soft rag

Instructions:

1. First, gather all the above needed articles that are required to clean the tin. Remember that the tin surface has to be freed from rust without the tin being damaged, so prefer not to use materials like rough detergents and scouring pads. Tin should be washed with things like sponges, soft nylon scrubbers or toothbrushes. Furthermore, rubbing tin with hard fiber-like articles may produce an unpleasant noise. You may have these articles for cleaning already kept at home.
2. Squeeze out a good amount of toothpaste (non-gel) unto a dish or bowl and dip a soft rag into it. Apply it to the surface of the tin article and keep this away for a night (at least 12 hours). For heavily tarnished items, you might require a few more hours. Wipe off the toothpaste from the item after the stipulated time. This process works well for small areas of the tin.
3. Take another bowl and make a mixture of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1 cup of hot water to make a paste. Use this paste for cleaning larger tarnished areas in the tin. Allow the paste to remain on the tin’s surface for a few minutes. Scrub off the surface using a nylon pad or soft scrubber. Again, you have to keep the scrubbed article overnight for the reaction to occur. Wipe it off the next day with a clean cloth.
4. Cut the potato or fruit into halves (the citrus fruit may work better sometimes) and dip into the baking powder. Scrub off the rust from the tin using the cut surface of the fruit. If you find the tarnish too difficult to remove, use a slightly rough cleansing pad but use it carefully so that you do not damage the surface.
5. If the above three methods do not succeed in removing the rust, use a bit of kerosene use turpentine oil or nail-polish remover on the stains. Wait a few minutes after pouring them unto the tin and then scrub off. Keep rubber gloves handy in case you use this method because it may harm your skin.