I’ve heard soaking them in white vinegar over night, then taking a wire wheel to finish them off. Does anyone have a better way that works?

I used to have a "Tumble Vibe" which was a bowl filled with abrasive material and shaken by an electric motor. You put small parts in and let it run overnight. For larger parts I just use a blast cabinet.

Soak in Evaporust.

I just put them in the blaster with glass bead media, i can do a ground of fender and door bolts in a few minutes. cleans everything up great without taking good metal away.

Evaporust is quicker than vinegar and can work better on more heavily rusted pieces. But vinegar does work. I glass bead some and wire wheel some others. Just depends on the item, it's condition, and what it needs to look like in the end. Getting all the oil and grease off the piece before doing anything else is important.

Then there's the challenge of duplicating the original finish and getting it to live.

Same here , I have gallons of the stuff , works wonders on original hardware to revive it , as long as they are too crusty.

I am try to clean up some lightly rusted Super Trick nuts bolts and washers. I’m hoping to retain their original color when I’m done. Thanks everyone.

Don't leave them in evaporust for a long time , 1/2 hour at a time .

As long as it stays below the surface it shouldn't harm anything. The top surface is very active so it will leave an etch line if the parts are not fully submerged. That is about the only negative I've learned when using it so far.

I had some used chrome bumper guards that were rusty as can be on the backsides and I let them sit in Evaporust for weeks and it removed all the rust and didn't harm the chrome at all.

I've done the vinegar thing as well, but if you don't neutralize it you'll end up with an orange fog all over the parts again in a few hours. Same thing with muriatic acid. I stopped using that years ago as the fumes are off the charts. 💀

I went ahead and began soaking them in white vinegar since I had plenty on hand. When you say to neutralize it Neil after soaking them, I assume you mean in plain water?

Baking soda and water mixed.

i have so many cans and bins full of nuts and bolts saved over 60 years or so, i should just toss 'em all and buy new ones when i need one.
but of course i can't bring myself to do it............

Neither can I, buying new is a last resort for me.

Don't do it. I moved twice in two years, and gleaned down my coffee cans full of nuts and bolts....Just the other day I needed just two nuts and bolts, that would have been in the cans, but alas I had to drive to the Hardware store....

Let your inheritors be the ones who throw them away.....

24 hours later… I may go another day and see how they look.

I use lye to degrease my dirty iron and then use white vinegar for rust removal. Cheap and effective.

They’re done.

my "inheritors" already hate me for having too much "stuff".

I couldn't figure out how to post the image, so here's the link. Kinda funny IMHO.

www.reddit.com/r/ChildofHoarder/comments/nrmy4c/humor_one_day_all_this_will_be_yours/