Surgical instruments today are not made to last. I see more and more “instrument pitting.” Pitting a short for “pitting corrosion.” This results in small holes in the metal making it weaker and more likely to break.

For a defect-free “perfect” material, pitting corrosion is caused by the environment–how instruments are stores, how much moisture is in the air, etc. These conditions can contain chemical species such as chloride. Chloride is particularly damaging to the passive film–oxide–so pitting can initiate at oxide breaks.

I discovered how to remove the pitting before it can destroy the instrument. By removing the pitting on the surface back to the original surface of an instrument will prolong the life and save you from buying new instruments.