Brass or stainless kitchen pads in some beaker arrangement works just fine.
Stainless turning panscourer will damage iron plated bits. Using them is an absolutely last resort. Ordinary wire wool is safer as the smaller strands are less aggressive but it will still wear away iron plating - only use it for salvaging badly oxidised bits.
Brass wool (available from good chandlers and fine woodworking suppliers as fragments left on the surface can't rust to spoil the finish) or brass turning panscourers are safe as they are softer than the iron plating.
However I wouldn't put a lot of money into fixing up this iron - its an unregulated 'firestick' with an ungrounded tip - useful for heavy terminals and chassis work but risky for pcb work and sensitive semiconductors. Also if the cork grip is in poor condition and breaks while you are using it, you *WILL* regret it if you cant drop it somewhere safe P.D.Q!