Tim!s Gym garage plate & barbell maintenance
I am a "self-sufficient lifter" operating out of my garage, and avid fan of Starting Strength. I wanted to share with you my recent experience maintaining my iron plates and B&R 2.0 barbell
The weight plates needed little... work gloves on my hands, I put some effort into rust removal on the plates with steel wool. One to two coats of rustoleum Hammered in black and they look great. A Sharpie oil-based marker in white for the poundage for the final touch. Highly recommended.
My beloved B&R 2.0 bar from Rogue was a little over a year old, with routine maintenance as described here by Rippetoe. During the VA gym shutdown by VA Governor Blackface, I opened up my gym to high school and college athletes. Increased use = (increase palm sweat+ VA humidity) - lazy ass maintenance = rust. Yuck.
I'm committed to lifting, so I wanted to experiment with a longer term solution to removing rust. ~$10 for a 4" x 10' PVC pipe, ~$10 for 4" end cap, $4 for two 1-liter bottles of vinegar. 1) PVC pipe to soak barbell in 50/50 solution of vinegar and water 2) tie nylon rope around end of barbell for retrieval 3) let soak three days. I cut the PVC pipe down to 6" past the barbell but you don't have to... just have a longer recovery rope.
When I first pulled it out I thought I had just blown hundreds of dollars by ruining the bar. There was a thick, black coat of ook on the bar. Hose that down, then wipe down with rag and let air dry in your rack. Light scuffing with steel wool and then 3-in-1 Oil and the bar looks brand new.
(Recommend you let the rusty ook drain out of your barbell by letting one side stay up on a J-hook while the other side touches the ground for about an hour, then reverse BEFORE 3-in-1 oil)
The PVC pipe will be available years from now should I once again become lazy and fail to do monthly maintenance.
