Removing rust from helmets

[Saglionetta]

Hi, i got a question about restoring german helmets

Lets say we have a solid helmet covered by rust
(So no piece its falling apart)

On youtube i see video of people that uses
Oxalic acid,grinder for metal or other methods to remove the rust layer.. and uncovering the metal

But cannot they just paint over the rust? (Maybe After using a bit sand paper)


In this way at least the thickness of the helmet wont be reduced that much,
And if im not wrong the rust layer once is covered by paint it should not keep to degrade the helmet

[Mark in Cleveland, Tn.]

Leave the lids alone in rusty condition, what some knucklehead do is clean them with dish soap stuff, dry then wipe some baby oil or mineral oil on them, bahahha all that does is trash them they look fake as crap after that, somew knucklheads scrub them with metal type scrubbers and an FYI rust is a chemical reaction that cannot be removed, like most cancers the rust atoms remain in the metal to reappear later