Ugly rust on my flatware

If you've been reading you know that I am on a cleaning kick lately.  I guess it is just habit in January when I'm stuck in the house to clean, clean, clean.  This is why I could never be a stay at home Mom.  I take my hat off to anyone who does this very important job but for me, who grew up in a cluttered home, I'd be batty.  I'd never let anyone make a mess and well, kids need to be messy!  But in January I've been on a cleaning binge. 

Last night I looked over my everyday flatware.  It gets run through the dishwasher  a lot and when I looked at it closely I saw, well, RUST!  Now the set we use wasn't that expensive it was only around $40.00 but still I feel like I wasted forty dollars that I could have allocated to something else.  RUST! 

I searched online to see what could be done and I came across a link that said lemon juice would take care of this problem.  Well, I've got lemon juice on hand so I thought I'd give it a try and guess what.....

IT WORKED!

I know, I was astonished as well, I mean it is just lemon juice.  Then I thought about it.  Lemon juice does have acids in it and I guess those acids eat the rust. 

What you'll need....

Flatware - I wouldn't use this tip on good real silver because I am not sure how the lemon juice will interact with the silver.  I know it won't take tarnish off.
Lemon Juice - I used a Wal-Mart brand
Glass - I used a clear plastic one.  You just need a tall one, any color, I used clear for demonstration purposes.


I started with my knives because they seem to be the worse.

See the spots there - RUST!
So again, here is what you will need...
Lemon Juice and a glass.

I filled the lemon juice up to where it was dirty on the knives.  

 After 5 minutes I flipped them over

Then I took them out one by one and dried them with a tea towel.  I DID NOT rinse them or do anything extra. 

 

Next I tackled the fork and spoons.  The spoons only seemed to be spotty and rusted on the handles. 

 

 

The forks seemed to be rust on the flat part before the tongs. 

Hopefully you can see that with these photo's.. trust me they were RUST - UGLY brown spots!

 



 

 

After 5 minutes on each side I wiped them all down with a tea towel, I did not rise them.  What amazed me was not only did the rust come off (there were a few that I had to soak longer) but they now SHINE!

 





Even some gross old food particles came off!  If you have water spots on your flatware or any dishes, glasses etc... well I hate to tell you but those aren't really water spots.  They are miniscule bits of food from other dishes that got blasted off in the dishwasher and landed on that item!  YUCK right!!

Try this trick on your own flatware, it really works!  Again, your soak time may vary depending on the level of rust you have on your flatware but try it cause it REALLY WORKS!

 I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I'm off to Hobby Lobby and Michael's on Saturday to find Valentine's day crafts.  I also will continue my search for an entryway storage unit so I'm off to The Salvation Army, Goodwill and a couple of antique and 2nd hand stores.  Wish me luck!
Have a safe and happy weekend.  Till Monday!
Victoria