It’s not a new thing that excessive drinking of Cola beverages can be detrimental to your health but amazingly it has some anti rust properties. Soft drink beverages are acidic in nature though not as acidic as lemon juice and far less acidic than stomach acid. However, Cola beverages can be used to remove surface rust. This is shown in an experiment where a rust coin is left in a glass of Coca-Cola solution over night. The following morning it was so much cleaner and showed no signs of rust. We’ll look to understand why this is possible and appreciate the effectiveness of this application in fighting rust on cars.
Metals tarnish when they are oxidized, or lose electrons, generally due to the presence of and reaction with sulfur compounds or oxygen, depending on the metal, creating a coating of metal oxide or metal sulfide, which can look like rust, tarnish, or patina, to name a few common types of oxidation product. When tarnished metal is exposed to an acid, the metal’s oxidation is reversed, removing the corrosion layer and thereby cleaning the metal.
This makes it possible to use Cola beverage solutions to clean patches of surface rust from a car’s exterior, although more serious and deep-seated areas of rust on the surface of a car will need the attention of a body specialist or a mechanic.