The Armour Archive

Rust Prevention Test v2

This is a second test that is hoping to expand upon the results of the first rust prevention test I ran.

Overview

For those of you who didn’t see the first test, I am testing several products to see how well they prevent rust in comparison to the others.

Each product tested (product) has been applied to one piece of rust-free, mild steel mail (sample).

After an initial 2 day period, each sample will be sprayed with salt water every few days to simulate sweat and use. All of the samples will be left on my patio in South Florida, where the humidity is relatively high. In addition, the salt content in the air is very high as I am 10 minutes from the beach.

Note that while the results of the test should have substantial value, I am not pretending that we are using strict controls or implementing a double blind test.

The first test’s results can be found here:
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/04/ ... l-results/

Products to be Tested

We are testing:

- Fluid Film
- WD40
- Tuf Glide
- Tuf Glide - Marine
- Ballistol
- Maxima Chain Wax
- Tire Wet
- WD40 Advanced Silicone
- LPS 3
- Boeshield T9
- Johnsons Acrylic Floor Finish
- Break-Free CLP
- Ezzox Gun Care

Note that Custom Chainmail has no affiliation with any of these products, yet. Depending upon the results, we may choose to become a distributor for the best if it is not easily available.

Day 0

Each piece of mail was put into Simple Green and agitated lightly (I shook it around) to remove any remaining oil. Then each piece was quickly washed with plain water to remove the Simple Green and dried with a towel.

Each piece was then labeled and product was applied (creating 13 samples total).

Note: As listed in the initial post, no salt water was applied.

Day 1

There was no noticeable rust on any sample.

Day 2

There was no noticeable rust on any sample. I sprayed each sample with salt water.

We're waiting!!!!!

Way more exciting than watching paint dry...unless it's on a shield, that is!

I sprayed the salt water on fairly liberally, so it should start to show some rust in relatively short order.

Day 3

Most samples showed no signs of rust.

Johnson’s Acrylic Floor Polish
Started showing signs of significant rust.

Ballistol
Started showing some rust.

Tire Wet
Started showing some signs of rust.

Click here for photos.

I hope the fluid film does well...since that is what I use on my maille

This is a great test! Thank you for it.

Make the days go by faster! This kind of suspense kills me

Day 4 Update

Nothing significant to report. The items with rust are a little worse, but the rest of the samples are not showing signs of rust.

I sprayed salt water on all samples.

Ckanite wrote:Make the days go by faster! This kind of suspense kills me

LOL

Thanks for doing this!

I am replying so I get updates to my email....

Oddvarr

Oddvarr, you *really* should not have said that - the folks here are twisted enough to reply just to spam your email with notifications

Yeah!

Oopsies

Day 6 Update

On day 6, I sprayed each sample with salt water.

Ballistol
More rust has developed.

Maxima Chain Wax
No rust of note.

Tire Wet
More rust developed.

WD40 Advanced Silicone
Some pockets of rust has developed.

LPS 3
No rust of note.

Boeshield T9
No rust of note.

Johnsons Acrylic Floor Finish
Completed rusted over.

Break-Free CLP
No rust of note.

Ezzox Gun Care
Some small pockets of rust havce formed.

Fluid Film
No rust of note.

WD40
No rust of note.

Tuf Glide
No rust of note.

Tuf Glide - Marine
Some areas of rust have developed. This is somewhat surprising given that it is supposed to be better than the original Tuf Glide.

To read the entire update with photos, visit the blog.
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/04/ ... tion-test/

Day 8 Update

I sprayed all samples with salt water.

Ballistol
There is substantial rust.

Maxima Chain Wax
Small bits of rust have started to form.

Tire Wet
Substantial rust is everywhere. Oddly, there is a small pocket that seems pretty clean.

WD40 Advanced Silicone
There are pockets of rust that have started to form. Some small areas that seem unaffected.

LPS 3
For the most part, it is rust free. There are a few places that have some rust.

Boeshield T9
For the most part, it is rust free. Some very small areas that have some rust.

Johnsons Acrylic Floor Finish
Completed rusted over.

Break-Free CLP
Completely rust free.

Ezzox Gun Care
Completely rust free. Note: I must have mislabeled my photos from the other day that showed some rust, but this photo is correct.

Fluid Film
Almost completely rust free. There are a few very small spots of rust, that could be nothing.

WD40
Pretty clean, but there are a few areas of rust forming.

Tuf Glide
Relatively clean, but rust has started to form.

Tuf Glide - Marine
Fairly rusted.

For photos, visit the blog post.
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/04/ ... n-test-v2/

Break free CLP for me!

I found pictures:

http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/04/ ... tial-post/

These are more recent photos:
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/04/ ... n-test-v2/

I've been putting them at the bottom of each post. It is far too much work to put photos in multiple places!

Belemrys wrote:Break free CLP for me!

So far that is working great. Certainly one of the front runners.

The front runners thus far:
- Break Free CLP
- Ezzox Gun Care
- Fluid Film

Day 10 Update - Rust Prevention Test v2

A few products are still going strong. Once I took the photos, I completely submerged each sample in a bucket of salt water. This will hopefully speed up the process for the test.

To see the entire post with photos, visit:
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/05/ ... n-test-v2/

Ballistol
Completely rusted over,

Boeshield T9
A few spots of rust. Overall fairly clean.

Break-Free CLP
Completely rust free.

Ezzox Gun Care
Completely rust free.

Fluid Film
Completely rust free.

Johnsons Acrylic Floor Finish
Completely rusted over.

LPS 3
A few spots of rust. Overall fairly rust free.

Maxima Chain Wax
Moderate rust in areas.

Tire Wet
Completely rusted over.

Tuf Glide
Light rust overall.

Tuf Glide - Marine
Substantial rust.

WD40
A few spots of rust. Overall fairly rust free.

WD40 Advanced Silicone
Substantial rust in areas.

At this point, I am going to pull the majorly rusted items from the test.

Note that I changed the order I am posting the results in to alphabetical. This is to make my life a little easier when creating the images and posting the results.

Jestyr,

This is a great test you are doing.

I have to admit that I smile a bit every time I see that the much despised WD40 is doing pretty well for its self, and the ballyhooed Balistol is going down in flames. It goes to show that you can learn more from an unbiased study than from the best intentioned recommendations of brand loyalists.

Have you considered gathering up the MSDSs of these products and posting them with your results? If (for example) three products do pretty well, but one of them is a vile toxin or suspected carcinogen, that knowledge would help folks decide which product they might switch to.

Likewise, some information about the working properties of these products would be helpful. We all know that WD40 will leave leave your hands and doublet covered with black schmutz when you handle mail treated with it. But, how "user friendly" are the others? Do they have similar bad qualities, or are some of them nicer to use?

Mac

A very exciting experiment, absolutely. I'm curious to hear about working properties as well, when the final results come out in the wash.

A few things I've wondered while following this:
- How is each product applied? Aerosol, painted on, rubbed on, dipped...?
- As Mac mentioned, any specific working properties. This product needs a day of curing time, that one stinks to high heaven, this one can self-combust a rag in a sealed container...
- Bang for buck on products. For instance, if product A is only a little bit better than product B, but costs five times as much and only goes half as far.

All that said, thank you so much for doing this experiment!

Mac wrote: I have to admit that I smile a bit every time I see that the much despised WD40 is doing pretty well for its self, and the ballyhooed Balistol is going down in flames. It goes to show that you can learn more from an unbiased study than from the best intentioned recommendations of brand loyalists.

I am just as surprised to see how well WD40 is doing as anyone. I didn't know Ballistol was considered to be very good, but I would love to find another use for it as I have an almost full can that clearly has no value in protecting armour!

Mac wrote: Have you considered gathering up the MSDSs of these products and posting them with your results?

I hadn't considered that, but I will once the test is complete for the products that do the best. Great idea, thank you.

Mac wrote: Likewise, some information about the working properties of these products would be helpful. We all know that WD40 will leave leave your hands and doublet covered with black schmutz when you handle mail treated with it. But, how "user friendly" are the others? Do they have similar bad qualities, or are some of them nicer to use?

I have already started working on that and plan on including those in the final results. I plan on including odor, and how greasy/oily it felt, as well as other items of note. And while I likely won't do tests as far as the black stuff that covers your clothing, people can extrapolate a bit from how greasy they feel.

For example, of the three current front runners, Break Free CLP has almost no odor and sprayed on in a way that made it easy to see that it was applied fully. Fluid Film has a mild odor, but is very oily. Eezox has a pretty strong odor, but is not very oily (sticks more). Fluid Film is cheaper than the other two.

My wife is very sensitive to odors, so I may enlist her to smell each top product to get a different perspective.

Jestyr,

I didn't know Ballistol was considered to be very good, but I would love to find another use for it as I have an almost full can that clearly has no value in protecting armour!

Ballistol is EXTREMELY well thought of in the gun industry. It has been around forever and has a great track record. I'm surprised it did badly. I've been using it and have been very happy with it. The other "biggie" in the gun industry is Froglube.

From their website.

OUR MISSION: DEVELOP AN OIL THAT CAN BE USED ON EVERYTHING.
At the turn of the 20th century, the German Imperial Army began looking for a multipurpose oil that could be used to clean and maintain the metallic parts of a rifle, while also protecting its wooden stock and a soldier’s leather gear. To develop this oil, the Army contracted with Friedrich Klever and his son Dr. Helmut Klever, a professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Karlsruhe.

In 1904, Dr. Helmut Klever succeeded in producing the special compound, which he named “Ballistol” (from the words “ballistic” and “oleum”, the Latin word for “oil”). It soon became obvious that this new “ballistic oil” had truly amazing capabilities, and in 1905 the Imperial Army tested and adopted Ballistol, which stayed in use until 1945. By then, however, word had spread and within a decade, hunters, boaters, hikers, and outdoorsmen in Germany, Austria and Switzerland had converted to using this new “miracle oil.”

THE CAN ISN’T THE ONLY THING THAT’S GREEN.
Ballistol cares about our planet, and we are committed to producing an environmentally friendly product. With Ballistol, you will lubricate, penetrate, clean, protect, and preserve your equipment without contaminating the environment.

Ballistol is biodegradable, and neither its use nor its disposal will pollute our air or water. Its natural decomposition will not produce byproducts that are harmful to the environment. The aerosol propellant is a propane/butane blend that does not contain CFCs. In addition, Ballistol is non-carcinogenic and skin safe.

You'll have to be specific to get good MSDS data. "Fluid Film" has a number of variants, for example.
http://www.msdsonline.com/msds-search/? ... MgodHQcAFQ

Vermillion wrote: From their website.

OUR MISSION: DEVELOP AN OIL THAT CAN BE USED ON EVERYTHING.
At the turn of the 20th century, the German Imperial Army began looking for a multipurpose oil that could be used to clean and maintain the metallic parts of a rifle, while also protecting its wooden stock and a soldier’s leather gear. To develop this oil, the Army contracted with Friedrich Klever and his son Dr. Helmut Klever, a professor of chemistry at the Technical University of Karlsruhe.

Therein may lie the problem. Doktor Klever tried to do for oil what Dr. Brunner did for soap.

Mac

Vermillion wrote: Ballistol is EXTREMELY well thought of in the gun industry. It has been around forever and has a great track record. I'm surprised it did badly. I've been using it and have been very happy with it. The other "biggie" in the gun industry is Froglube.

I'm not a gun guy, so I really had no idea. That said, I am surprised it has as good of a reputation as you are describing given how poorly it did in this test.

Ernst wrote:You'll have to be specific to get good MSDS data. "Fluid Film" has a number of variants, for example.
http://www.msdsonline.com/msds-search/? ... MgodHQcAFQ

I got the latest two from Fluid Film's website and Eezox just sent me theirs.

I think that CLP has displaced most others with the gun guys I know.
The other big thing that Ballistol had going for it was its supposed value as a leather conditioner.

Over at Ballistol, they do know sex sells, right?

With Ballistol, you will lubricate, penetrate, clean, protect, and preserve your equipment . . .

Yeah, yeah, it's like saying "The raunchiest line in Gilbert & Sullivan is in Pirates of Penzance: 'Yes, yes! the Major-General comes!'"

Day 12 Update

Day 12 seems to have separated the men from the boys. A lot of the products that were still hanging around have gotten very rusty, but the 3 front runners (Fluid Film, Eezox and Break Free CLP) are still hanging around, as is WD40 (who would have figured that?!?).

To see all of the results and photos, visit the blog:
http://www.customchainmail.com/2014/05/ ... n-test-v2/

Boeshield T9
Substantial rust has started to form.

Break-Free CLP
Still looks completely clean. A few spots of rust on a rivet or two might be forming.

Eezox Gun Care
Still looks great. There might be a few very tiny spots of rust forming, but it is very negligible.

Fluid Film
Still looks great. A few spots may be forming, but it is so minor as to be hard to tell.

LPS 3
Significant spots of rust have started to form.

Maxima Chain Wax
Very rusty. This was doing well, but it seems that once it started to wear off, it went quickly.

Tuf Glide
Several spots of significant rust, but other areas look clean. Because of how this works, I may test it again later as a base coat.

WD40
Some areas of rust have formed, but overall it is still pretty decent.

Will you be running the test until all samples get to a certain rustiness. I'm curious if the best will be similar or there will be a longevity stand out. And, thank you for scratching this itch; much appreciated!

Thank you again for all of your work in this matter.

Tostig wrote:Will you be running the test until all samples get to a certain rustiness.

Yes. I'll be checking every few days for the 4 left standing. Once it is completed, I'll do a full write up.

It seems safe to say that WD40 is a decent option at this point which is a pleasant surprise to me. The fact that it is virtually ubiquitous doesn't hurt either. This is a great test-thanks for putting in the time & effort!