# Cleaning titanium frame - is this rust?



## serpico7 (Jul 11, 2006)

I'm cleaning a Ti frame and noticed a couple of discolored spots that almost look like rust, but I'm guessing it's not? I tried scraping these spots with a plastic dental pick, and that removed very little of this. Mineral spirits, which I used to clean the rest of the frame, had little effect. Any thoughts on what this is and how to get rid of it?

In the bottom bracket:


On the seat tube:


In addition, there is this spot on the seat tube that mineral spirits isn't having any effect on:


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## ridesmasterx (Aug 3, 2013)

Road guber and minor scratches. It's titanium, polish it out with whatever grade steel wool you like!


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

ridesmasterx said:


> It's titanium, polish it out with whatever grade steel wool you like!


In addition to this, you can try Goo Gone or Goof Off.


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## Roland44 (Mar 21, 2013)

tvad said:


> In addition to this, you can try Goo Gone or Goof Off.


Yeah, Goo Gone will take care of this easily.


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## Doug B (Sep 11, 2009)

Polish it out with a dremel tool, some lapping compound, and a stainless wire brush.


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## Opus51569 (Jul 21, 2009)

A ScotchBrite pad will work, too.


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## tvad (Aug 31, 2003)

For a less abrasive alternative to the options mentioned above, you could also try a Mr Clean Magic Eraser.

If it were me, I'd skip the abrasive pad options and first try Goo Gone or Goof Off with a soft cloth. Any of the abrasive pads, including Mr. Clean Magic Eraser might (will) alter the titanium finish.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

Yes, I would think that using a different method to polish out scratches would be very noticeable afterwards, either shinier or duller than the rest of the frame. 

Find out what method was used on the frame originally. I see various Scotchbrite pads recommended a lot. I suppose you could test it on the bottom of the down tube or bottom of the chain stays.


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## Squint (Jan 22, 2004)

I had a similar problem years ago with a Ti bike. There was some gunk that citrus and even acetone wouldn't touch. It turned out to be dried energy drink and water did the trick.

I would try different solvents before resorting to mechanical removal.


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## robt57 (Jul 23, 2011)

My everyday use Ti bikes back in from 1997-2004 got a yearly scotch bright with citrus cleaning and new decals as needed. Looked new for at least one season afterwards. 

When I got tired of the mono-chromatic look of Ti, I got a 3x color powder coated steel custom which was #1 bike for 12 years and a few groupo upgrades along the way.
That one is relegated to SS use since 2013 and I have a new steel powder coated frameset from the same builder, yada...


Take what you will from that drivel...


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## serpico7 (Jul 11, 2006)

Tried Goof Off, but that had no effect on any of the spots.



Squint said:


> I had a similar problem years ago with a Ti bike. There was some gunk that citrus and even acetone wouldn't touch. It turned out to be dried energy drink and water did the trick.


Good call - water took off the discolored spot on the seat tube. Did nothing for the discolored spot in the bottom bracket, so having tried mineral spirits, Goof Off, water, and isopropyl alcohol, I used a piece of scotchbrite (the green "Heavy Duty" scouring pad) and it was gone in seconds. 

The seat tube spot is a bit shiny now. I suspect that wasn't from any of the liquids but from trying to scrape at it with a plastic dental pick. Not sure what the best way to blend this in would be. The frame is a brushed finish titanium - if I look at the frame really closely under plenty of light, there are thousands of tiny scratches.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

serpico7 said:


> The frame is a brushed finish titanium - if I look at the frame really closely under plenty of light, there are thousands of tiny scratches.


Those ain't scratches, they're patina, embrace them.


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## serpico7 (Jul 11, 2006)

velodog said:


> Those ain't scratches, they're patina, embrace them.


Yeah, I'm not worried about them - was just pointing out that it's a brushed finish.


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## Bnystrom (Oct 27, 2007)

serpico7 said:


> Yeah, I'm not worried about them - was just pointing out that it's a brushed finish.


Brushed finishes are created at the factory using Scotchbrite metal prep pads (the maroon colored ones). You can cut them into strips to get into tight spaces. As long as you match the direction of the scratch pattern, it should blend perfectly, though it may be _slightly _brighter until it gets exposed to the same contaminants that the rest of the surface has seen. Re-brushing in this manner will not harm the frame in any way.

I don't understand why you're concerned with a spot of discoloration _inside_ the bottom bracket shell. Why would you even bother with something that nobody sees? That surface is probably not brushed, so any attempt at doing so would be more visible than just leaving it alone.

For the record, Ti is impervious to just about everything, so the maintenance on it is essentially zero, or at least reduced to just cosmetics. The only things to be aware of are:



The possibility of cracking at welds, which will only occur if the frame wasn't welded in a proper oxygen-free environment. This isn't very common.


Galling can be an issue if a Ti seatpost is used in a Ti frame, though my understanding is that this generally only occurs if both are made of the same Ti alloy. Ti will not react with other materials (Al, carbon). Some frames have an Al sleeve in the seat tube, which eliminates the possibility of galling, but could corrode with Al or carbon seat posts.


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## 4slomo (Feb 11, 2008)

Titanium alloy can't rust, it doesn't have any iron in it.


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