Galley Trays Cleaning

I have several galley trays that are rusted and discolored. I have tried Brillo pads and steel wool on them but they don’t seem to come as clean as I would like. Is there any solution to soak them in or spray on them to dissolve the rust and stains? Also, is anyone selling new ones? Thanks, Larry

Log in to reply   5 replies so far

A solution of about 2/3 vinegar and 1/3 lemon juice works well on iron and steel. Soak them for maybe an hour and then use your steel wool. You might have to do it more than once. The steel wool gets the loose residue off pretty easily then. Rinse them and dry them right away and then wipe them with a light layer of oil to keep them from re-rusting. To achieve an even lighter layer of oil, put a little oil in refined clear kerosene and wipe that on. The kerosene will slowly evaporate, leaving just the oil behind.

One cautionary note: if they are galvanized, I don’t know what that would do to the galvanized layer.

Another thought that comes to mind, since I just did it, was this. I cleaned off the bed of my paper cutter and then waxed it with Minwax paste furniture wax. It came out really well. It made the bed slippery though, which is good for a cutter but maybe not for a galley.

I have used evap-rust or similar products with steel wool and liked it better than the vinegar/lemon juice solution, though it is more costly. I then coated the galley with a light oil or used a rust-oleum satin clear spray

I use a vinegar mixture, but it is one quart vinegar to 2 tablespoons salt; I think this was the Dave Churchman formula. Soak galleys overnight in a nonmetallic container, then scrub with Brillo pad (or synthetic steel wool) under running water. Dry and coat with oil thinned with kerosene.

Discolored and rusty galleys? Nothing solves this problem better than regular use.

My method-

Wire-brush off as much rust as you can, then use steel wool for the rest.
Soak in EvapoRust. (I really like this stuff.)
Rinse in very hot water, towel off, allow to try.
Put into use.

If you don’t like the finish left by the ER, lightly sand with 800-grit paper and WD-40, then wipe and lightly oil.

z!