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Old timer told me to stop using wire brushes on stainless liners
Guy I worked with for a summer, been doing this since the 70s, saw me scrubbing a liner with a carbon steel brush. He just goes 'you're gonna ruin that thing in a year, that's how rust spots start'. Switched to a nylon brush and stainless specific stuff and honestly the liners I'm pulling out now look way cleaner after 2-3 seasons. Anyone else get schooled on something basic like this early on?
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robins8312d ago
Carbon steel brushes on stainless is basically asking for trouble, it embeds tiny particles that rust later no matter how careful you are. The nylon brush trick works because it doesn't transfer any metal and it's gentle enough to avoid scratching the passive layer. Once I made the switch myself I started noticing liners lasting way longer before any pitting or discoloration showed up.
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mia70011d ago
Respectfully, I gotta push back on the nylon brush thing a little. Nylon is softer sure, but those bristles can still leave micro-scratches over time if you're scrubbing hard enough, especially on cheaper stainless that's not as smooth. I've actually seen liners get a weird hazy look after a season of nylon scrubbing because the surface gets worn down unevenly. For me the real trick is just using a soft sponge with barkeepers friend or oxalic acid when you need to, then rinsing and drying right away. The carbon steel brush contamination is real if you're careless, but a good quality stainless brush that's never touched anything else works fine and won't embed anything. Honestly most rust people see is probably from not drying well enough or from water sitting in the seams for too long.
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Holy crap, I didn't even know that was a thing with the nylon brushes leaving no metal behind. @robins83 that makes so much sense now why my old liners always looked like garbage after a couple years. I was just scrubbing them like crazy trying to get them spotless, never thought about what the brush was doing to the metal. It's wild how something so small can mess up a whole season of work. I bet half the rust spots people blame on bad seasoning are actually just from scrubbing with the wrong brush.
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