Friday, January 15, 2010

How do I get nails to rust in the least amount of time?

I am doing an assemblage sculpture art project. I want to use rusty nails in the project, and the faster I can get the nails to rust, the better. Any suggestions? Is salt water the most effective, or are there more effective ways? Should I soak the nails in water? Thank you to everyone who replies.How do I get nails to rust in the least amount of time?
Salt water works. There is also a paint on iron called Instant Iron. It's like paint and you can use it on ANYTHING. It comes with a bottle of corroding agent, but salt water works best. Really gets the variation in colors. It can be found in the larger art and craft stores in the patinas.





There is also a great copper form that corrodes to the green colors.





I have used both on paper, bisque clay, canvas, cloth, etc.





Good luck. Sounds cool.How do I get nails to rust in the least amount of time?
Years ago it was said that Coke was exceedingly corrosive.


Might produce interesting result. There are also acids, but caution required.
soak them i the saltwatter then put them out to air leave them overnight and repeat.i use this to rust barbed wire and it looked pretty cool after a couple weeks, but a day or two should work, you may want to scratch the nails first to remove any plating they may have, a wire brush will do the trick and it will also help the rusting.
Not Coke - it's a cleaning agent (brilliant for cleaning copper and brass, and therefore should be in the cupboard with all those other cleaning agents) - imagine what it does to your gut!
warm heavily salted water with a bit of vinegar in it put the nails in a mess plastic bag and tie it shut with enough cord to be able to lift it out of the solution leave it in the water over night and then put the cord up far enough to expose the entire mess bag to the air for one hour in direct sunlight then dip it again it takes a bit of time but it works.

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