How NOT to Remove Rust

You and your husband have argued so many times over this: the metal patio set.

The Hubby: Let's just keep that indoors.

You: Hon, may I just point out that it's a PATIO SET?

The Hubby: It's metal. It's bound to rust.

You: Oh bosh. We'll just remove the rust when it does get around to that, then.

The Hubby: Ok. YOU remove it.

It's been two years and the patio set is still enjoying its outdoor accommodations in the jungle that is your garden. You have not exactly been frequenting that part of your home, as evidenced by those roses and weeds gone wild. Finally, after making a New Year's resolution of making a landscape artist out of yourself, you finally venture into the wilderness. Wow, this is pretty much like stepping into The Secret Garden-it holds secrets that only get discovered when you bump your shin on them. Like the patio chair for instance. It's become so rusty, it's practically screaming tetanus! at you. In fact, it's the entire patio set that's hollering at you.

You go to the local hardware store and get the things that you need. Sandpaper, check. Body filler, check. Paint, check. Ok, you are all set.

You roll up your sleeves and squat down with sandpaper in hand and vigorously rub on the rust. You see it coming off bit by bit. Hooray! You fill it in with the filler and finally cover it all up with paint. Mission accomplished!

You happily work on your garden in the continuing days. From time to time, you pat the patio set as you pass by it. Day by day you crouch down beside it as you pull up weeds. Wait, what's that peeling off the chair? Uh-oh.

It is highly likely that you have not completely removed the rust off the metal. Sandpapering rust off metal is a slow and tedious process. You would need to keep rubbing until you reach the main metal, thus eradicating all signs of rust. if even just a smidge of rust is left, it is already enough to render the metal vulnerable, since the rust is bound to spread.

The body filler is a porous substance that needs to be immediately covered up as soon as applied. Otherwise, if you dilly-dally doing so, moisture might seep in and get locked in under the coat of paint. So the whole effort of removing rust would be futile; you would have to repeat the process all over again, right from the top.

You sigh. Alright, it looks like you have to do this all over again. How tedious. You hear your husband's car in the driveway. Who cares about your agreement two years ago? This looks like a job for The Hubby.

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