A chemist told me rust does not spread. The top of my refrigerator gives me some doubt. It’s covered in these spots. The center of every spot is a small break in the paint, but the rust all around those spots is on top of the paint.
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2025
17 points (100.0% liked)
Chemistry
641 readers
1 users here now
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Your fridge may be made from some steel that is susceptible to rust, and the paint protects it. When iron rusts, the iron oxide product is that red stuff, which is not protective and flakes away, revealing more material that can then rust.
Stainless steel has chromium which oxidizes before the iron, but chromium oxide is strong and forms a protective barrier preventing additional material from oxidizing. Though certain environments, such as high temperature or moisture can cause the chromium oxide layer to fail.
Practically speaking, i'm not sure what the best fix would be. If you could prevent oxygen from getting to the bare metal, that should prevent further corrosion.