Noob here, first post.
I have a 1055 carbon steel knife (or I'm pretty sure it's that - says "55" on it). I put it in powdered Iron Out (sodium dithionite) mixed into water to remove some rust. It got most of the rust off, but to get the last little bit I added more Iron Out. 15 minutes later, the knife was heavily streaked with black. A chemist friend surmises it’s harmless ferrous sulfate. What do you think?
It kind of looks cool, so I was thinking I'd leave it as-is if it's harmless. But then I saw all these cool mustard patinas, and I think I might want to remove it and do that. What's the best way to remove the black stuff?
I have a 1055 carbon steel knife (or I'm pretty sure it's that - says "55" on it). I put it in powdered Iron Out (sodium dithionite) mixed into water to remove some rust. It got most of the rust off, but to get the last little bit I added more Iron Out. 15 minutes later, the knife was heavily streaked with black. A chemist friend surmises it’s harmless ferrous sulfate. What do you think?
It kind of looks cool, so I was thinking I'd leave it as-is if it's harmless. But then I saw all these cool mustard patinas, and I think I might want to remove it and do that. What's the best way to remove the black stuff?
