Rusty Krocodiles

[Bucktail]

Looking for suggestions.

I have several of the old brass Krocodiles.  Some of them have started to show some significant rust.  I have painted and used prism tape on some of them (and they work great) but I would like to keep a few of them in their natural, shiny, brass color.  

Is there any way to get the rust off and polish them up to almost new condition or should I just sand and paint these too?

Thanks,
Bob

[Ms Fish]

Can you tell me what that is exactly? I might know a house hold hint or two that could help.

[Bucktail]

Added pics.

[Ms Fish]

I found this... figures it'd be WD-40 


http://www.ehow.com/how_6744388_remove-rust-fishing-lures.html

[intili61]

white vineager and baking soda soak.

[Bucktail]

I found this... figures it'd be WD-40 


http://www.ehow.com/how_6744388_remove-rust-fishing-lures.html

Well I'm not sure that's specifically for brass lures.

white vineager and baking soda soak.

Hmmm...  I thought vinegar takes the finish off of brass.

[Hunter 2]

An old trick from the navy.  Believe it or not HOT SAUCE.

[Ms Fish]

One more..I think this has the brass in the article..its for antique lures



http://www.ehow.com/how_5752822_clean-antique-vintage-fishing-lures.html

[ChrisL]

Try Brasso
http://www.amazon.com/Brasso-Multi-Purpose-Metal-Polish/dp/B000VP7IYA

[blynch]

Collinite metal wax does a nice job of shining up old diamond jigs, not sure it's strong enough for this though...

[fellinger]

Brasso? Or there is a product sold at auto stores. It comes in a small black and silver can. It looks like a wad of thick cotton and smells like lighter fluid. I used to use it on all the aluminum and chrome on my cycle. I love it but cannot remember the name.

[IrishAyes]

Chris, you are thinking of never dull. We used to us it when I was in the USCG for our brite work on the boats and at the station.

http://www.amazon.com/Basch-Never-Dull-Metal-Polish/dp/B0014IGAWO/ref=pd_sim_hg_13

[fellinger]

Never Dull it is Joe. It's the bomb.

[IrishAyes]

Oops, my bad Fred. I thought it was Chris who mentioned the cloth thing. 

[ChrisL]

No, I was thinking of Brasso.  Used it to restore old brass extinguishers.
But that wadding polish would work too.

[Spanky]

Oven cleaner works great on brass. Normally all you have to do is spray it on. If its really, bad put them in a plastic zip lock and spray the oven cleaner in it and let them soak. Or use a buffing wheel.

[Uncle Luna]

I read once soak them in coke soda then roll up a ball of aluminum foil and rub it off, old tip used to remove rust off car bumpers when cars were made from real metal.

[Wreckfish]

Beer, lots of beer.  Than you won't care if they are rusty.

[Hunter 2]

Beer, lots of beer.  Than you won't care if they are rusty.

Beer, lots of beer.  Than you won't care if they are rusty.

Great Idea Phil.

[Bucktail]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

I did two of them last night, and got them looking pretty good by using a combination of oven cleaner and Brasso (which I forgot I even had until Chris mentioned it).  The oven cleaner helped to take off a lot of the old crud, and the Brasso made them shine!

I didn't try the other methods (like the hot sauce) simply because I didn't have many of the ingredients.  I'd like to try that Nevr Dull stuff sometime too.  By the way, intili61, after some research, it looks like your vinegar and baking soda method might have worked after all.  Maybe I was thinking about bronze?   I didn't have any baking soda to try it though.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for all the great ideas!  Here's the final result of the ones I did last night.