Wow lots of different opinions and questions to answer! I got the salad dressing idea from a neighbor that restores lamps and antiques.. he uses a similar solution for lightly rusted stuff. His sons a student at our local university and he explained how the 2 acids and sodium react to make this combo work. He also told me they use this solution to clean corrosion off of copper pots , brass fittings and to remove rust. You can make your penny's shiny if you want with this stuff and it will make silver shine like new!.. I just kept making different solutions "some from the internet that claimed they worked" and keeping track of which ones worked the best and was the cheapest to make over a year period. As far as losing family time as one guy insinuated I had my kid help me so I didn't lose and quality family time LOL We even went to the lake and my daughter used our metal detector to find items and we put them in the solution to clean them up .. I tried alot of the recipes I have found on the net and alot of them didn't work at all.. This recipe works the same as the stuff you buy at my local parts store "oriellys" and it even smells the same! .. I have yet to see anything cheaper "delivered" to your door that actually works! Where I am at vinegar is $1.98 a gallon lemon juice is .88 cents and salt is $1.oo for a box.. now as far as neutralizing it .. I wash everything down with a light mixture of dawn soap and water if i am not going to paint it right away I just put some light penetrating oil onit to keep the rust from coming back....Its really not a bother to make this stuff! I mean they sell all the stuff at your local food mart.. I used it on my fender tag and it left the paint intact and only attacked the rust and left the paint where the paint was still fully intact.. I haven't tried it on aluminum or something that is zinc plated.. so I cant answer that question other than I wouldn't put any acid with aluminum! back in high-school we used to make drano bombs out of a 2 liter bottle, aluminum foil and some drano or drain opener.. So I think even this mildly acidic formula would attack the aluminum. and LOL I bet this formula doesn't work as fast or efficiently as a 20k soda blaster but it could greatly reduce the contamination the soda sees before you blast it hence making the soda last longer... As far as salad dressing goes I guess if you thinned it out with some water it might not be half bad! I'll have to get back with you guys on that one. lol I might try it out on the wife's relatives this xmas..
