The De-rusting Bucket. A.k.a: Rust removal by electrolysis or the Bucket-o-Doom. Old-school rust removal.


Suspended my rusty hubs into an old-school anti-rust system. 5 gallons of water 5 tablespoons of Sodium Carbonate (i.e. washing soda) and a battery charger. The rusty parts are the cathode and the rebar is the anode.


Turned it on and in 60 seconds you can see the hydrogen bubbles forming.


After only one hour. Look at all that rust removed that now floats on the surface.


After 6 hours.


There's my anode out of the bucket. Notice how the sections submerged below the water/sodium-carbonate are covered in rust. That's the rust from my hubs. It's more like a rust foam. Just wipe it off with a paper towel and the anode's ready to go again. For the anode it's best to use cast iron or steel. Stainless steel, aluminum, and copper don't work well, if at all. But rebar's cheap and comes in 2 foot lengths so that's what I used.