There are lots of advice on this. Some use Evaporust or equivalent products to get all rust off. You get down to clean bare metal with these. Disassembly of the irons are sometimes needed. Others have used a wire brush or even a hand held dremel to get the rust off. Some do a light job of it, maybe give it a coat of rust protecting oil and coat of paint. Some have handed the irons in to be sandblasted. I read someone use chalk dust in stead of sand as a gentler but just as efficient treatment.
Take pictures in advane if there are traces of gold, silver, or colored details left on the irons. It's nice to get them back on :- )
Last edited by Mickey2; 09-12-2018 at 05:22 AM.