Vinegar is Acetic acid, not acidic acid.
Thank you teacher...
....I will suggest first using a mixture of HOT water and Baking Soda to neutralize the acid.
Let item soak in mixture for several minutes and then do the HOT "dish washing" wash.
Rinse in HOT water.
Quickly WIPE dry and let its heat finish the drying.
When dry add OIL - the bare metal is just waiting to rust again.
Bekeart
Sure can't hurt to use the BakingSoda as well.
I've never had a problem with just using dish soap in all the yrs of using it.
It's the process I use and have used for 50+ years of stripping bluing and also removing Heat Scale from parts ..and I use dilute Muriatic Acid for all that.
The heat scale removal can take up to a few hrs in the mix. Even with that they don't come out looking any different the stuff that gets soaked for blue removal
The med grey color, but no pitting on the parts.
The shine comes right back with either a wire wheel polish up. Or just an easy go over with Scotchbrite,,marron or grey pad color.
Warm water, soap and rinse. I don't use Hot water,,just warm.
Wipe down dry and they don't rust,, at least in my shop.
But every location is different, temp, humidity, etc.
If they are to set around and not be worked on, yes wipe them down with oil of some sort.
Sometimes steel will 'flash rust' after a cleaning or wash&rinse even in water.
Freshly polished steel is especially prone to this.
A thin rust coating will appear in a matter of a couple minutes on the cleaned surfaces.
The rust can be easily removed with a bit of care & light polishing. But it's a pain to have to do especially after all the hard work you do to get the part(s) done the first time.
