Salvaging any elderly object is already quite eco-friendly.

Although I haven't used vinegar in this way, I've tried and failed with the home remedy of aluminum foil and Coca-Cola. An automotive wadding polish like Nevrdull does the best job:
http://www.nevrdull.com

Here's the fixture that I revived with it:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98704941@N00/2342397976/in/set-72157601955717111

I used vinegar & aluminium foil. My hands turned black for a few days but it works.

I love Nevrdull, and it seems to clean EVERYTHING... Including the grime on wood that accumulates over years of use with dirty fingers.

Although I've never used the vinegar and steel brush approach, I don't see why it shouldn't. Even without the vinegar, you're basically taking an abrasive tool to the metal and grinding off the rusted bit.

Wow, Wig3000! That fixture is all sorts of shiny and sparkling like new. Excellent work!

I grew up in Hawaii, where things rust if you look at 'em cross-eyed. Scrubbing rust off my bike was a regularly scheduled childhood duty, and I always used plain tap water & aluminum foil.

Thanks, Seaside! We're still happy with our lamp rehab.

The issue we've had with the aluminum foil method is that the foil scrubbing looks like it's also very finely scratching/dulling the surrounding chrome finish.

Yes, vinegar is great and then to prevent further rusting try WD 40, especially on garden tools wheels, everything. I love the stuff, you can even wait till it dries and paint over it. I restored an old wind mill with it and it looks great.

Beautiful photo - I love that pink chair.

I used white vinegar and aluminum foil to clean the chrome legs on an old diner-style table recently. It worked really well. I'm prissy so I didn't get much black on my hands and it washed right off.

My mother used plain steel wool to keep her bicycle rust-free growing up. She says it works like a charm, though I haven't tried it.

I'll be frank - I'm a big fan of rusty metal objects from yore.

i've used navel jelly (find at a hardware/auto supply store and is a bright bubble gum pink color) but i'm not sure what the environmental impacts are.

a quick search came up with this stuff but it might be a bit more than you need.

http://www.evaporust.com/evaporust.html

Plain foil works really well on rusty chrome (try it on an old bicycle - it's amazing). I've never tried vinegar, though.