How do you get rid of rust on brass hinges?

Question

These are unique old hinges and I want to use them on cabinets .They are old and rusted . I've tried baking soda as well as WD40

and ran them thru the dishwasher . Dont think you can buy them anymore and these are good ones . Thanks for your help

Answer 1

First of all, brass does not rust, so if it's definitely brown rust, then they aren't brass.

Secondly, if they are rusted (brown) and you get them wet and don't dry them good, then you're compounding the problem.

Brass oxidizes and what you would consider rust is a greenish residue.  There are brass cleaners available from most building supply and department stores that will clean this off.

If they are steel (brown rusted), then put them in some light oil (motor oil, vegetable oil, etc.) and let them soak for a day or two.  This will penetrate the rust and coat the underlying good metal so it will quit rusting.  Then take some fine grit sandpaper (300 - 600 grit) and lightly sand them until you get to the good metal.  If they don't sand well at first, then take a steel-wire brush and knock the surface rust off before you sand them.  Once the rust is gone, you either have to coat them with some type of polyethylene clearcoat or paint them within a couple of days.  Otherwise they will begin rusting again in a very short time.