What I did for my '61 Ludwig hardware was

I soaked it in about 1 gallon of water with plenty of dawn

used an old toothbrush to scrub the hardware

put it back in the soapy water for about 3 hours

and then rinsed it and dried it all off

then applied Gel Gloss to a haze

followed by rubbing it in till it was nice and shiny

A drain pan that they use under hot water heaters can also be used for hoops for an entire set (even metal bass hoops)

Something in the Dawn/water combo helps soften rust and grime

Wow that's so cool, I'm in the process of my first "restore" project. Mostly needs cleaning, shining, and a little seam gluing and a few pieces of hardware needed to replace since they're missing. Can't wait to get started. I'll be on here often to get advice and show pics.

If you have any rusty tension rods I highly recomend CLR for soaking. I tried that stuff on the last kit I did and was amazed how good it worked. Just soak overnight and rinse off. I bought it because I had some lugs with what looked like calcium build-up; you know that salty looking stuff. I soaked the lugs in it for a hour or two and it took it right off. The dawn soak didn’t seem to work good on that salty crap. It is strong stuff so be careful even though it did not damage the chrome on my t-rods.

Jeff C

I have been using Evaporust and been extremely happy with the results!

What do you suggest for chrome polishing? I've been using turtle wax. And what do you use to clean up the shells/wrap? I use windex.

For chrome any polish will work. Just follow the instructions and use micro fiber cloths to remove residue. Evaporust is great but spendy unless serious rust exisits.

Giving CLR a test now. Thanks for the tip!!

Creighton

+1 on the Dawn soak.

CLR ROCKS.

Very important that you rinse well after. not good on the skin.

I highly recommend PEEK for chrome. Really works great and not expensive.

This stuff works great. I swear by it. It will take off rust. Better than anything I've ever used.

To keep the rust from coming back, I use a lanolin based product called Fluid Film. I spray it on all metal parts that aren't going to get waxed (i.e. washers, screws, bolts, tension rods etc).

Great combo.