Clear Protection for Mild Steel

[kaolin]

Someone, at some point over the last year, mentioned a clear coat spray that they used on their mild steel chain to keep it from rusting. My impression was this stuff worked really well if the armour was stored or in use. "Waxy substance" is all I can remember about it.

Does anyone know what this stuff is called and where I can get it?

The next question is will it work on plate and helmets?

Kaolin (suffering from a bad case of rust around the edges)

[Johann Lederer]

http://www.amazon.com/Picreator-Renaiss ... B0012S1XBO

[Johann ColdIron]

Vigilance...and a scrubby pad.

[olaf haraldson]

Lanolin

[Konstantin the Red]

Auto wax. You want a sealing coating, a barrier to the water, that does not chip and is easy to renew. Renaissance Wax (tm) is the same idea but a lot more expensive.

[kaolin]

Thank you all for the responses. Vigilance has been my labour of choice up till now. The plate is starting to get a little thin in places from the constant vigilance.

Olaf, where do you get pure lanolin from?

[olaf haraldson]

I use a spray lanolin called Pro-lan currently, but it's gotten harder to find. Sold as a marine lubricant. You can get spray lanolin for making water resistant diaper covers.

[schreiber]

http://www.amazon.com/Fluid-Film-Spray- ... B001OKBFBS



This stuff is fairly economical. It's what I spray my mild sheets with when it's sitting waiting to get used.
I've had armor sit in a bag for two years after hitting it with Fluid Film and not rust.

However it's not really durable: it will require a rub-down and a spray every couple uses.
Though come to think of it, I don't have much better luck with Johnson's paste wax, which is my other suggestion. (Though Johnson's is more readily available.)

[woodwose]

My mild steel plate does not get as much use as a lot of other people, but it has been very low maintenance for a couple years now. A couple years ago I rubbed on a thin coat of linseed oil and let it dry completely, then repeated a couple more times. I then gave it a thick slathering of carnauba based floor wax, let that dry, then buffed it shiny with a soft rag. Every year before Pennsic I give it the same wax treatment again. It lays outside my tent during pennsic, covered with an old wool blanket at night or during rain and is developing a dark patina rather than red pitting rust. For the rest of the year when not in use the cuirass hangs on my living room wall, with the rest of the harness kept in a cedar trunk below it. Sometimes if I have oily or greasy hands from cooking or whatever I go into the living room and wipe them all over my armor. I haven't had to clean off any major rust since putting on the linseed oil two or so years ago.

[woodwose]

Someone messaged me a while back wondering how the linseed oil and russeting thing was working out a few years after applying the linseed oil... Here's a quick little page I tossed together with some pictures of what the armor currently looks like, and a bit of other info:
http://mailmaker.tripod.com/armor/rust.html

[losthelm]

Ballistol also works well best applied outside and left for a bit before buffing with a cloth.

[Swete]

My knight used to use chain wax on his mild chainmail before he got stainless, and it worked pretty good.

[InsaneIrish]

Silicone spray.

[RoundTop]

I used AD3000 on my Mild steel. It has worked very well in the Pacific Northwest.

It has kept my mild helm and gauntlets relatively rust free for several months now and going strong. Have to re-spray a little on the gauntlet knuckle plate after it was abraded a little (on someone else), and the helm in a couple small spots around a rivet (that I may not have got the first time properly).

But it has stood up to sweat, rain, and blows very well. Helm was out in light rain for a couple hours and gently wiped off, no rust after that.

[The Iron Dwarf]

I use and make 'Iron dwarfs Battle wax' based on the same thing as renaissance wax ( microcrystalline wax )