An alternative to molasses for small items like tools, nuts, bolts, etc with surface rust is cleaning vinegar (essentially that is the chemical acetic acid produced in molasses but without the mess). I use Vin-a-Clean (Riviana Foods -
Riviana Coming Soon). It's very cheap, starts out clear and works well. You can watch progress and it's fast. Buy it at the supermarket - not all have it though. WD40 or similar afterwards as rusting will start pretty quick too.
Socket bars are they way - pop-rivet them into your tool box otherwise they get twisted if somebody treads on them:(
Bob