Keith,
What ratio of water to molasses do you suggest?
I have never found the liquid molasses in any feed store in my area. Grocery store molasses is much more expensive, and said to not work as well. So I have been using dried molasses that I buy in 50 lb. bags at the local feed store. I mix it approx. 1 lb. of dried molasses per 1 gallon of water, so a 50 pound bag will make at least 50 gallons of rust remover. It helps to start with some very hot water to dissolve the molasses, and then top off with cold water. The last bag I bought was around $17.50, so that makes an effective rust remover that costs less than $2.00 a gallon mixed, and can be reused many times. It works by the same chelation process as EvapoRust, but EvapoRust is now around $30.00 per gallon on Amazon. Some people use a weaker ratio of water to molasses, or even more. It doesn't seem to make much difference, but I've never gone weaker than about a 3.5 lb. per 5 gallons of water ratio. Here's a link to an old Thread here where I provide more details in a couple Posts:
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forum...rds=molasses+&Search=true#Post486326You can also Google it or find YouTube videos about the process. But if you try it, you will soon learn that some of what you find posted on the internet is not true. Some guys say it will cause pitting of machined surfaces, but I have not seen that, even after forgetting about tools or things I left soaking for months. If there is any pitting after soaking, you can bet it was there under the rust before you dunked it. It is somewhat slow, and may take up to two weeks to remove really heavy rust. It works faster in warm weather. It is non-toxic, and can be reused many times before it slowly loses effectiveness. When mine is depleted, I simply dump it around trees or shrubs to give them a shot of iron. Don't forget to wear rubber gloves when you scrub off the black slime after soaking. It is somewhat smelly, and will stain your hands. Cleaned parts will develop a flash rust quickly in humid weather, so dry and oil them to prevent that.
Molasses as a rust remover is one of those things that I wish I had learned about years ago. I probably wouldn't bother using it if I only had a few small parts to clean up. But since I tried it, I always have at least a 5 gallon bucket of molasses solution in my garage to clean up old tools or rusty items. In my area, it doesn't freeze solid in the winter, but turns to slush when near 0 degrees Fahrenheit. You probably have much colder winter temps, and wouldn't want it to freeze solid and split a plastic bucket. And remember that bluing is a form of rust, so don't use it on blued gun parts unless you intend to remove the bluing.
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