Parrot Toys Rusting!!!

[crazyforfeathers]

Hi! I got a 3 buckets worth of hand me down parrot toys from this nice lady. It was barely used. Her parrot was not sick, but was too aggressive so she sent him to a breeder for a breeding program.



Some of these toys were never even used. I soaked them all in water, vinegar and dawn dish soap on from Sunday to Tuesday. Rinsed fully. I am drying them out in the sun now and noticed that almost all the metal parts (chains, links, wing nuts, bolts) are leaking rust!!!



I know it is my fault but what a waste! Now I can’t let my bird play with them because rust is bad for them. There was no way I wasn’t going to sanitize these second hand toys!!! There is sooo many of them I feel sick for having destroyed them from the soak. Is there a way for me to salvage these toys???

 

[crazyforfeathers]

Can I use WD40 to halt the rusting? Is it safe for my parrot?

 

[Grenage]

I'd personally wait till dry then remove any obvious rust with abrasive paper. If it comes off easily and there's nothing obvious that can be gnawed at, you'll probably be ok. WD40 is a water displacer; it won't magic away rust - it also isn't safe for... anything to ingest.

Failing that, I assume the bolts/chains/hooks can be removed from the toy, and be replaced. Those are (weirdly enough) often the cheapest part of the construction.

 

[mrgoogls]

i wouldnt even use the toy(just that part) if it had rust. i would trow it out. keep all the wood parts and the parts without rust. you can either go but new chains,hooks, bolt, ect or just use the wooden/plastic parts of these toys to recyle into new ones.

 

[crazyforfeathers]

Ok I will look into buying replacement chains, rings and what not. Wish me luck!

 

[Greenwing]

Replace any hardware you can... Home depot has a lot of hardware.... You can also use some fine steel wool to remove the rust on the chains...then use some cooking oil to coat it..

I would not use wd40...

 

[weco]

When in situations like this, you can often use alcohol to soak toys & it's dry time is virtually nothing.....you can also use acetone as a disinfectant...it is a hot solvent and dries faster than alcohol.....

I wouldn't use nail polish remover because it is less than 50% acetone and has other things in it...you can buy acetone at paint stores, hardware stores & home supply stores....

When buying alcohol, look for 90% rather than the normal 50% or 60% solutions.....if you usually buy in dollar stores, I've seen 40% solutions so they cal sell it so cheap.....

Test acetone on plastics you plan to soak, because it will melt or craze some plastics...you may have to let a drop sit on the item a few minutes before you notice any distortion.....you can normally use alcohol on plastics without any problem.....

 

[crazyforfeathers]

Thank you for the info!

Weco did you mean to use alcohol for sanitizing or for cleaning rust?

Last night I was feeling like a miracle worker after using plain white vinegar to dissolve the rust from the toys. I was very thorough and the rust was all but removed! I was amazed!!!

Imagine my dismay when I woke up this morning and found the rust had returned, lightly coating every metal part. What?!?! How can it come back so fast?!? What is going on??

 

[weco]

Thank you for the info!

Weco did you mean to use alcohol for sanitizing or for cleaning rust?

Last night I was feeling like a miracle worker after using plain white vinegar to dissolve the rust from the toys. I was very thorough and the rust was all but removed! I was amazed!!!

Imagine my dismay when I woke up this morning and found the rust had returned, lightly coating every metal part. What?!?! How can it come back so fast?!? What is going on??

For sanitizing.....GW's suggestion of replacing the hardware is the best...rust is the oxidation/corrosion of iron & steel by water & given the difficulty of trying to remove it from the little ball type surfaces of chain & between the surfaces of keyrings, replacing is the only given, because unless you remove the oxidation, it's like a Timex, it just keeps on ticking.....now, if you can figure out how to lightly sand the inside of all those little round balls in a chain, I'll give you my cellphone number & we'll both be rich in 30 in days...or..less.....

When soaking colored wood toys/toy parts in alcohol or acetone, you may get some fading/bleaching of the dyes used, but the chewability is not diminished.....just be sure to let all wood products thoroughly (maybe a couple of days in the sun) before giving to a bird.....

 

[crazyforfeathers]

Thanks, Weco!

Another question if I may. Will a rusted metal contaminate another metal that is rust-free? If I use a rust-free nut on a rusted screw, will the rust spread?

 

[weco]

Another question if I may. Will a rusted metal contaminate another metal that is rust-free? If I use a rust-free nut on a rusted screw, will the rust spread?

In the short term, probably not, in the long run...maybe.....

There would be several things in play in your scenario.....the grade/makeup of the rusted screw.....assuming the threads are of a standard design, a stainless nut could be substituted to great advantage, though the screw would continue to deteriorate.....for what it's worth, stainless steel can also rust, however the better the formulation of the metal when it is poured, the less the possibility of this happening and accordingly, the greater the price increase for the higher grades.....