How can i was the inside of an old canteen?

[Kev18]

So I went to a flee market and picked up a WW2 Australian canteen. Or so iv'e been told. Im not a big Military buff or anything but I do collect old rifles and im a big fan of the 1800's style western stuff. And this canteen resembles something along those lines. For me anyways.

For anyone that cares it's a dark blue enamel and steel(?) I can easily run it over with a tank and it wont budge! If the rifle jams, throw the canteen, you'll get 'em!

Now my issue is that I want to use it and it has abit of rust inside. Im not sure I should put some rust remover inside since I want to use it. So Im letting it sit over night filled with vinegar. That should lift up the rust! I hope.

Any better methods?

[Walks]

Borescope?

[redneck1]

Make sure it's dry inside , dump about half a pound of salt inside it .
Tape it to the bowl of your vibratory tumbler , run it half an hour or so
, flip it over and repeat .
Dump out the salt give it a good rinse and it'll be good as new

[abunaitoo]

Not sure if this would work for the canteen, but don't see why not.
This is how I clean out radiator overflow bottles.
Those get really nasty.
Stainless pins that I tumble brass with works the best.
Used to use nuts, rocks and sand.
Fill with about 1/4 of what ever media you decide to use.
Hot, hot water, laundry detergent.
Cap it and start shaking.
If you have a tumbler big enough, it should work great.
It doesn't take as long as you might think.
Flush it with boiling water, a couple of times,and you should be good to go.

[richhodg66]

This gets discussed a lot on old motorcycle forums and it seems the general way to derust a tank is to put some kerosene or similar in it along with ball bearings and then wrap it up in blankets or something and bungee cord the whole thing on top of a lawn mower, preferably an old one with a bent shaft that vibrates a lot, and run it for a while.

I believe Evaporust is not toxic. Vinegar may be the best bet.

[bedbugbilly]

If you get it clean and are still wary of it . . . . put some beeswax in it, heat it and swirl it around to line the inside of it with the beeswax. The only issue will be if you leave it in the sun or it sits and get s hot enough to melt the beeswax. I used to make wooden canteens years ago just for the fun o f it. I could get them watertight but just to be on the safe side, I would set the canteen in the hot sun to warm up, melt beeswax and quickly pour in the spout and swirl around - it worked just fine.

Those old enameled Brit canteens are interesting IMHO - served well in both World Wars.

[richhodg66]

That's a great idea/ I was wondering if it could be coated with something that would prevent the inside from getting rusty again.

[Kev18]

This gets discussed a lot on old motorcycle forums and it seems the general way to derust a tank is to put some kerosene or similar in it along with ball bearings and then wrap it up in blankets or something and bungee cord the whole thing on top of a lawn mower, preferably an old one with a bent shaft that vibrates a lot, and run it for a while.

I believe Evaporust is not toxic. Vinegar may be the best bet.

I have evaporust and it works good, im not sure how I would clean out the inside after though? Normal dish soap?

[richhodg66]

Dish soap would be my idea. You might try vinegar first, but I don't think I would leave it in for long. Maybe a fourth full of white vinegar and some BBs inside, slosh for a while and pour it out. Rinse well and see if you get any rust out afterwards. Repeat until you're rust free or you're convinced you need something stronger.

Vinegar is known safe. Not sure I'd want to use any real chemicals in something I was going to drink out of.

If you can, I'd like to see a picture of the canteen, sounds like a neat old piece of kit.

[country gent]

I would try the nuts pins or chips and vinegar or soap water to lift and clean. vibrate or tumble then wash clean rinse and dry . Warmed with wax will seal metal but may give an off taste to whatever is put in it. You might consider a clear epoxy thinned down mix and swirl it inside coating the surface and let cure well. This will seal the metal and washed well should give of odd tastes, another benefit is if there are ant pin hles or seam leaks this should seal them well. Maybe give it 2 coats even

[waksupi]

Pour in some muriatic acid, swish around and dump out. If it is real bad, add in a section of small chain to swirl around. Then rinse well with water and baking soda. Rinse again, and you are good to go. They use the acid in swimming pools, so it is safe enough to use for the purpose.

[kens]

vinegar will derust steel, but, it leaves that black cheesy residue behind. it is easy to brush off the black cheesy, but it takes a brush.

[Idz]

Unlikely a cast-boolits member would be a lead-a-phobic but the old joints may be lead solder so you may want to rinse and use fresh water for each use.

[EDG]

Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid which is good for removing rust.

The problem is with carbon steel is - if it is rusty and you remove the rust it will eventually rust again.

[blackthorn]

Warm water and a couple oz of citric acid. Fill to the top, cap, let sit for a couple of days, dump a bit out, shake well, rinse and away you go.

[Kev18]

I just stuck it in the tumbler. I let it set for a few hours. The vinegar only removed alittle. Im using to corn medium. It might not be enough. Il add steel shot in it if it doesnt work later.

[EMC45]

Vinegar and sheetrock screws. Fill it up with a dozen or so screws and some vinegar. Shake till your arms are about to fall off.