It's wild how many people will use a harsh chemical because it's handy, without checking if it's safe for the material. You see it all the time with cleaning products too, where something strong enough to eat through a finish gets used on a surface it'll ruin. It seems like a general habit of grabbing the quick fix without a second thought. That kind of shortcut can get really expensive, or worse, when you're dealing with something as critical as an aircraft part.

Yeah, vinegar is great for rust, but calling it a "household product" is a bit of a stretch for this use. It's a mild acid, and leaving it in a frame tube for two days is basically a chemical process. For something less involved, like a rusty chain, I've had good luck with a coke soak, which is also acidic but maybe a bit safer to mess with. You just don't want to get in the habit of using food stuff on bike parts without knowing what you're doing.

Right? It's crazy how much better a burger is with actual flavor. Good call, @aaron150.

Forget the dust for a second. That fine powder gets into the bearings of the tool itself. I killed a brand new one cutting a bunch of ceiling tiles because the grit just wore everything out from the inside. The big chunks from a knife are annoying to sweep, but they don't wreck your gear. Now I only pull out the zip if I absolutely have to, and I blow it out with compressed air immediately after.

Tell me about it. My first faucet swap turned into a whole weekend thing. I spent more time driving back and forth to the hardware store for a sawzall than I did on the actual install. Those guides assume your house isn't held together by rust and wishful thinking.