Is it true that the soda (coco-cola) can really eat rust off a car?

Answer 1

The link below is where I visit whenever I receive information like this. http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/acid.asp

Claim: The acids in Coca-Cola make it harmful to drink.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2001]

Properties of coca-cola:
1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of coke in the truck to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.

2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of Coke and it will be gone in two days.

3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous China.

4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.

5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.

6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.

7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.

8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.

9. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

For Your Info: 1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 28. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.

10. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly corrosive materials.

11. The distributors of Coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!


Origins: Many of the entries above are just simple household tips involving Coca-Cola, as provided by Joey Green in his 1995 book Polish Your Furniture with Panty Hose and on his web site. That you can cook and clean with Coke is relatively meaningless from a safety standpoint — you can use a wide array of common household substances (including water) for the same purposes; that fact alone doesn't necessarily make them dangerous to ingest. Nearly all carbonated soft drinks contain carbonic acid, which is moderately useful for tasks such as removing stains and dissolving rust deposits (although plain soda water is much better for some of these purposes than Coca-Cola or other soft drinks, as it doesn't leave a sticky sugar residue behind). Carbonic acid is relatively weak, however, and people have been drinking carbonated water for many years with no detrimental effects.

The rest of the claims offered here are specious. Coca-Cola does contain small amounts of citric acid and phosphoric acid; however, all the insinuations about the dangers these acids might pose to people who drink Coca-Cola ignore a simple concept familiar to any first-year chemistry student: concentration. Coca-Cola contains less citric acid than orange juice does, and the concentration of phosphoric acid in Coke is far too small (a mere 11 to 13 grams per gallon of syrup, or about 0.20 to 0.30 per cent of the total formula) to dissolve a steak, a tooth, or a nail overnight. (Much of the item will dissolve eventually, but after a day or two you'll still have most of the tooth, a whole nail, and one very soggy t-bone.)

Besides, the gastric acid in your stomach is much stronger than any of the acids in Coca-Cola, so the Coca-Cola is harmless.

The next time you're stopped by a highway patrolman, try asking him if he's ever scrubbed blood stains off a highway with Coca-Cola (or anything else). If you're lucky, by the time he stops laughing he'll have forgotten about the citation he was going to give you.

Last updated: 29 March 2004

Answer 2

Soda Rust Removal

Answer 3

Yes. Actually, if you leave a tooth in a glass of it, it can dissolve the tooth within three days. It's also an excellent way to get stain rings off of toilet surfaces.

Coca-Cola tankers carrying the syrup form have to wear "hazardous materials" safety signs. The carbonated water they combine with it is pretty much harmless.

So, yes. Coke is a very good solvent--as long as you watch it, because it will dissolve steel if given enough time. And never get it on your paint! It'll eat right through the clear coat. (This I know from showing experience.)

Answer 4

The acid in coca cola would eat the car. If you put a nail in coke and let if sit for a month the nail will all but disappear. The acid in coke is less potent to what is in your stomach.

Answer 5

In the olden days coca cola syrup used to be given to settle an upset stomach. I think if you drink it constantly the acid would probably be too much, but I don't think it would "eat up" your insides. The main thing it is harmful to is your teeth. It will rot your teeth. The sugar in coke is probably the biggest part of it being harmful.

Answer 6

Yes!! When my car broke down and the battery was corroded all I had was a bottle of coke in the car and put it on wiped it off and the car started right up!!

Answer 7

I don't know about that, but I heard Diet Coke in particular made a piece of steak dissolve after 24 hours!!

Answer 8

well that is a tricky question. The answer is NO. the acid in coke will only eat a very little bit, actually it will not be noticeable after you wipe it off.

Answer 9

Yes, This is because Coke contains Phosphoric acid, This can be seen on the ingredient on any coke can

Answer 10

and it works well for a tire shine type product, I have also heard that it works for battery corrosion though I have never tried it. Coke the car tool you can drink !!!