Over a year ago, I took a quick weekend trip up to Nashville to help a friend get unpacked. On my way back home I spotted a retro dinette set on the side of the road and dang near wrecked my car making a u-turn. I was certain that something so awesome would cost more than I wanted to spend but ran inside to ask the price anyway. I had a girlfriend with me and she was all “Don’t you already have a kitchen table and chairs?”
Uhm, yeah.
And?!
I claimed I was going to clean it up, reupholster, and sell it, which I partly believed. But deep inside I knew that if I could get my hands on something like this, I would never be able to let it go. If you saw the vintage retro diner sign I made for our kitchen, you know that a vintage retro kitchen is my dream.
I asked the dude inside how much the set was; “You want the price before I clean it up … or the price it’ll be after it’s clean?”
I’m no stranger to dirty and don’t mind a little cleaning so I told him to give me the price ‘as is’.
Fifty bucks.
I wanted to tell him he was crazy for selling something that amazing for such a low price, even if it did look like hell. Instead, I kept my poker face on, forked over the money and then causally asked if he would thrown in a pair of lamps he had on display. He did. I felt like I was in the friggin’ twilight zone. I mean, I’ve never seen that show but I was certain that what was happening was not normal. I looked at my girlfriend, gave her the holy-schnikes-bulge-eye look, crammed it all in the car with our luggage and high tailed it back to Atlanta.
Aside from being super dirty, it’s got a couple flaws. One of the little wings is missing the white laminate and a few of the little feet were missing from the chairs. But the table top is almost flawless. From different angles, the table looks like it bows in in the middle, but I’ve checked it several times and its just a trick of the eye (trompe l’oeil for you art majors out there). With the leaf in, it looks much better. Yes, it even came with a friggin’ leaf!
For those of you wondering, this piece was made by Brody Seating.
The first obstacle I decided to tackle was the severe rusting of the chrome.
Turns out, removing rust from chrome isn’t super hard. There’s a super easy, super cheap and best of all, chemical free way to handle this.
Wet aluminum foil.
Watch carefully, this one’s tough.
Get some foil.
Crumple it into a ball and run it under cold water.
Now get to scrubbin’.
If your rust situation is pretty serious, you may be tempted to use steel wool; don’t do that. Rust is oxidized metal, or metal that has extra oxygen atoms. The aluminum has the power to take away those oxygen atoms, breaking down the rust, leaving you a nice shiny chrome surface. Using steel wool may remove the rust but it doesn’t have the same properties as the aluminum foil. Steel wool will also create tiny little scratches and gouges in the chrome so, while it may remove the rust, it will leave you with a not so shiny surface with lots of scratch marks in it. No bueno.
Check this out, here are the table legs before:
Here they are after:
Crazy, right?!
The next time you come across a fabulous thrift score that’s a little rusty, don’t pass it up! Take the foil offa your leftovers and get after it!
Stay tuned for the solution to this hot mess:
Yikes.
dena@heartsandsharts.com
I am in the process of doing this on a vintage Formica table we just got for $30 bucks! Two double legs down and two to go. The results are amazing! There is aluminum banding around the edge of the table. Since it’s not as strong as the chrome, do you recommend anything different to clean that? It’s not exactly rusted like the legs, but a little dirty and discolored in spots. I think the aluminum foil method may scratch the banding. Thanks!
Hey, Erika! So glad this worked for you! I think the foil would def scratch the aluminium but I’m not sure what a good alternative would be? Would Coca-Cola work?
I found a super ugly painted cosco stool that had been painted. Some of the chrome was painted as well. So you think the foil will work on the chrome once I strip the paint?
I believe it will.
Hola, tengo una pregunta: puedo usar este truco en los fines de las bicicletas? Está super esta página, felicitaciones.
*en los rines oxidados de las bicicletas
Muchas gracias, Liz! You can use the foil anywhere you have chrome + rust. It’s like magic!
Oh my lawd!!!!! It works!!!!! I can not believe it works . It’s amazing how can I show pictures . I was like noway my sister and her friend were like “yeah right” but I love this pink and black retro table and darnit I want to keep it! If I can show photos so that others will believe it works tell me what I need to do. Thank you for this awesome trick!!
IT’S LIKE MAGIC RIGHT?! Actually it’s just science but still, super cool. If you have an Insta, you can tag me in the comments or send pics to dena(at)heartsandsharts.com. I’m so glad you were able to rescue a retro table! (and to prove the nay-sayers wrong!)
Tried this on an old bicycle to remove rust from chrome fenders, handle bars, tire rims etc. Worked like magic. Amazingly easy. Tire rims takes a little more effort getting around the spokes.
So glad this worked for you, Bill! Happy biking!
Do you then have to seal it so the rust doesn’t come back?
No – I wouldn’t spray the chrome if it’s something that will be inside – It’s been a few years since I did this and we still have the same table – the rust has not returned. If you plan on doing this to something that will be left outside the rust will likely return with time – then maybe in that case I WOULD spray the chrome – although – sometimes clear spray paint is hard to get even on a surface and I think it might ruin the finish of the chrome.
OMG!!! It works! Thank you. I do have a ’50’s kitchen table and I am going to do the whole thing. The little area I did looks brand new. Thanks tons.
Yayyyyy! So glad you found this useful!
Going to try this on shower curtain rods. Such awast ti keep replacing them!
Good luck!
Try foil paper and cola. I save my flat soda just for this purpose.
Can I use the wet foil on stainless steal?
I’m not totally sure…. i would test it in a small area. I would think that stainless might scratch a little easier than chrome, so use caution. Report back, I’d love to hear how it went!
I had a set of old extremely ugly lamps that were given to me so I decided to attempt a make over but the lamp shade makeover I did looked like crap so here I am on Pintrest looking for a better tutorial on how to cover the lampshades and I ran across your tutorial. Your tips were excellent and your blog was funny so I continued reading others while doing so I ran across this one and I am so excited to try this out. I never would have thought to do this to rusty chrome. Thank you for taking the time to put this out there!! Have a great day and may the thrift stores continue giving you great deals!!
Thank you, Llin!
Thank you i’m working on a old dolls pushchair with lots of rust so will try the foil trick!!
Oh, cute! I hope it works wonders for you!!
This post popped up in my pinterest feed, and since I have an old Cosco step stool with lots of rusty chrome – I clicked on through. After seeing your success on your dining set, I went straight to the kitchen to get foil and try it on my step stool. WOW! I can’t believe how well it works, thank you, thank you, thank you! Now that project is going to the top of the list for this weekend 🙂
Yay! Thank you, Patty! It’s like magic, right?! I have an old Cosco stool waiting for some love as well. Good luck on yours this weekend!
I can’t wait to try this trick. Thanks.
This kitchen set remind me of the one we had when I was a kid.
Thanks, Debbie!
Arg…can’t wait to see what you do with the rest of the set! I love vintage anything!
Hopefully I will be able to post more tomorrow or early this week. The foil trick totally rocked my world on this set and seriously, I may not ever, ever sell it. #DinerChic …?
Just came across your website from pintrest. Glad I did, love your website, you are hilarious! So nice to be able to stay at home, and do what you do. You have a lot of great DYI’s & crafting projects. Thanks! Look forward to your future post.???
Yay! So glad you enjoy the blog, Laura! Thank you!