Stainless Tools and Rust

[BenB]

I know stainless isn't 100% impervious to rust, but I try to let my tools dry out after use and mine have a bit of rust.
I'm frustrated because.... you know.... we all want pretty tools.
I thought I had quality stuff, but now I'm not sure, or I didn't let them dry good a few times.
Do yours rust or do I have tools?

 

[Rob23]

Are you leaving them wet and air drying them? I try to towel dry mine completely after each use. I don't remember the brand, but my tools have remained rust free for twenty plus years.

 

[gnatster]

Some lemon juice and salt will remove the rust. I know this well, my landlord and neighbor is a metal shop, my counters are stainless, I left something on one for to long.

As @Rob23 said, dry the tools with a towel after use.

 

[BenB]

Yeah, I let them air dry. I'll wipe them down in the future and try the lemon juice and salt.

Thanks! Only problem is now, if I can clean these up, how do I justify something shiny new and expensive?

 

[Kwyet]

Mine have never rusted, and they’re all cheap ones off of Amazon. I just hang them to dry.

 

[Minorhero]

Some of my tools including some of the expensive ones rust. Others never rust even if they are cheaper. It definitely depends on the tool. My ADA scissors rust between the blades. My veterinarian scissors that cost half as much do not. My dooa tweezers never rust no matter what I do to them. The painted black fluval tweezers rust all the time.

 

[Pepere]

Well… first of all, it is stainless, not stain free..

So, the stain resistance is due to a chromium oxide that forms on the surface with exposure to air.

The more polished the metal is the more resistant to rusting it becomes..

The problem comes with crevice corrosion where water and ions sit in a crevice and becomes oxygen starved and the oxygen leaves the chromium oxide layer..

Cheap pinsetts can’t grasp with much tension because the knurling is very superficial. Quality pinsettes have deeply cut knurling engineered to interleave with opposing ones…

Inside those deep and sharply cut knurls water can sit, as well as where the two legs of the pinsette jois together. Those are the problem areas…

The other issue that affects stainless stain resistance is the exact alloy used. Some alloys are more resistant than other ones…

There are tradeoffs as well with stain resistance and other properties to the metal we desire as well.


Nothing in this life is perfect…

 

[BenB]

Some lemon juice and salt will remove the rust.

This worked. Thanks!