I wonder how many good helmets have been destroyed in attempts to remove rust from them. I personally saw to that three helmets turned black in a chemical reaction before I knew how to approach this the right way. Now I shiver in horror when I see ground dug relic lids thrown in a electrolysis bath or brushed with "rust remover" making the helmet worthless and ugly. My friend Andris thaught me how to get the rust off and still have a nice patinated helmet and at the same time preserve paint and decals hidden under the red stuff.
 This is a very simple process and is best done in a well ventilated area, or the kitchen if the missus is away. You need a few things :
* Plastic tray,bucket etc.
*Safety goggles and gloves
*A stiff brush , a hemp dish brush or nail brush for example
*Oxalic Acid , check with your local pharmacist or hardware store
*Kitchen towel
*Rusty object

Here I have a very battle damaged german M40 from Stalingrad. As you can see it is a nice rusted relic piece with what looks like two layers of paint. A greyish first layer with what looks like a field applied Apple Green atop which is flaking a bit. Im worried the cleaning will remove some of this green layer but I will be careful when brushing it.

Put the pieces into the tub or bucket and cover it with cold water. Then I use a tablespoon of Oxalic Acid pr 10 liter water and stir it good.

Now you ll see the water getting a yellow hue to it, so just leave it for 20-30 minutes. Keep any children and/or pets away, you dont want them drink this or inhale the fumes.

When time is up remove the piece from the acid to running cold water in the sink where you brush it and you ll see rust just running of. You might want to give it another 20 minutes in the Oxalic Acid after this it depends how rusty it is and how much you want to work with it. When I was satisfied I put the pieces in a bucket of cold clean water for a few hours and then giving them another brushing under running water before lightly padding them dry with the kitchen towel and letting them air dry on the table.

So alot more rust came off this one , but as feared some of the green paint came off in the process. I was happy though because underneath the rust and the green paint there was remains of a decal which I never would have seen if it hadn`t been for the Oxalic Acid.

Next time we`ll have a look at how to preserve this further:)

Preserving Relics:  preserving-relics.html

I came across a very interesting article about a group of Russian diggers today. I would love to go dig with them.
Here is a link to the article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25589709