Removing oil from maille?

[Adam H.]

I couldn't find a previous topic about this, but if I missed one please forgive me. I just received my Sussen riveted shirt in the mail yesterday, and upon removing it from the box my hands were covered in oil that I had to shower to remove. Obviously, I would rather not get so messy when I want to wear my armor, so I was wondering if using dawn dish soap and hot water would do the trick. Also, how rust prone would it be after this?

Thanks.

[matt9625]

I think there is a trick with rolling it around in sand or something. Maybe someone else knows about that one. But one thing you could do is wash it with super hot water like you said and then right away dry it with a towle and make sure you dont miss any spots. Then add some oil to it right away even if its just wd40. The dawn shouldent have a rusting effect to it. Only acid based cleaners would rust it. (of course im not armour guru like some of these guys so im just going by my experences.)
Or you could just bake the oil to it and blacken it (my fav.)

[Adam H.]

Thanks. I do believe that my mother would murder me for baking maille in her oven... Would I really have to re-oil the thing after washing it? I doubt it will be caught in the rain or anything like that. Could I seal the rings with some sort of spray?

[matt9625]

Ive been on that subject b4 with some archivers and unless your willing to either pay a mass amount of money to get it plated or buy a large culdron filled with molten tin, then your better off adding oil to it. Without oil the metel will rust just due to the humidity in the air and the sweat off your body. You should of gone stainless if you were worried that much about oil and rust
Ohh and ive heard of painting it but not only does that look like crap but the paint will chip off in no time at all.

[Ceddie]

Mail
+
5 gal bucket
+
simple green
+
stoopid hot water
+
a stick
+
a movie to watch while sturing.

You'll need to hit it with something after you are done but if I were you I'd rather know what kind of oil was on it (I'd go with olive oil but DW-40 works too) or it WILL rust.

[Adam H.]

Drat. Oh well... would dabbing the majority of the oil off with paper towels leave enough to protect the steel? Or do you really need to have it dripping to be an effective defense?

[matt9625]

just a light coat. Doesnt need to be dripping. Just dont miss any spots... I just put the maille in a big plastic bag after i wd40 the hell out of the maille while its hanging up. Ive heard olive oil works better because wd40 is a heavy oil and gets dirty quick. But as long as you re oil it after each use with a bit of wd40 and stick it in a air tight bag you shouldent have a problam. Ive never had a problam with wd40 being icky on my cloths. I just dont like the smell. Should of gone stainless

[Hjlmr inn Danski]

Greetings,

Mail
+
5 gal bucket
+
simple green
+
stoopid hot water
+
a stick
+
a movie to watch while sturing.

You'll need to hit it with something after you are done but if I were you I'd rather know what kind of oil was on it (I'd go with olive oil but DW-40 works too) or it WILL rust.

Ceddie speaks the truth!

That's the same technique I used to knock the excess grime off my filthy mail shirt.

Be sure to wear it often, I've noticed if I don't wear mine fairly regularly it rusts up quick.


Hjlmr inn Danski

[Graedwyn]

You do not need to oil it if you wear it often.
Once or twice a week to practice should do it.
Better still, if you wear it when you do your
pell work (every day is nice).
Turn it inside out and wear it that way occasionally.
Get a little brass bristled paint stripping brush
and use it to clean around the rivet heads
where it sometimes does not come clean on
its own.
It will stay burnished and shiny if you do
your part.

-Graedwyn

[Blaine de Navarre]

Last time I was at Harbor Freight, they had jugs of industrial degreaser. I've never used it, but if I had a new mail shirt to degrease, I'd give it a try.

Once it's degreased, you can keep the rust at bay with "Evapo-Rust".

[Scott]

Use your dishwasher. Just spread it out on the top rack and then run the washer.

BTW: I am told that the dishwasher is *the* way to get puke out of a closed face helm.

- Scott

[Tom B.]

When this topic has come up in the past many peolpe have mentioned Futrue floor polish as a rust preventative.

http://www.floorcareproducts.com/floor-finish/index.asp

Tom

[Klaus the Red]

I have had good results from hanging the mail up flat on a sturdy pole with the arms outstretched and bombing it with about half a spray bottle of orange-scented degreaser (it works fast and smells nice too!) and letting most of the oily crap drip down onto some newspapers or rags, then doing the simple green wash to get the rest. If you rinse it in super-hot water, it'll evaporate off before it has time to rust too much.

Klaus

[Adamo]

I filled a bucket with de-greaser (Purple Power?) and cleaned it off until the bucket turned from light purple to black. Maybe it took three times?
After that I rinsed it in a bucket of water and hung it up, drying it with a heat gun.
To protect from rust, I try to maintain the blackened finish that it came with by spraying it down with rust converter when it gets damp.
I've only used my shirt once, but it's spent its life sitting in a burlap sack on the floor of the garage, and it has not rusted at all.
No oil at all.

Adam

[RenJunkie]

Good thread. I find I am alergic to a lot of industrial anti-corrosives. Anyway to get that stuff off fast and easy is good with me.

How long does the Simple Green in a bucket method take?

Thanks,
Christopher

[Graedwyn]

Ten minutes or so
in a bucket with "Simple Green"
or 'Industrial Purple".
Hot water and about half a gallon
of the degreaser.
Swish it around for a while,
then rinse it until the water is clean.
Repeat, then hang it up in the sun.
Dry it as fast as possible with a heat gun.
There may be a slight amount of rust,
but wearing it will get rid
of that fast enough.

-Greadwyn

[Atlanta Armory]

IF you wash it in water make sure not to heat it in the oven without oil. That's the fastest way to rust a shirt. Takes only about 5 min to start rusting.

I'd use TUF-Glide by Sentry Solutions. It's a dry lubricant that works fairly well but has no ruboff and doesn't attract grime or dirt.

-Ben

[Adam H.]

Thanks for all the help guys. I tried mixing it about it about in a mop bucket with hot water and a whole bottle of lestoil, then rinsed 3 times, but there is still plenty of oil on it. I guess I just need to repeat the process, so Im going to try and find simple green today.

[Atlanta Armory]

You can also try using kitty litter. The active ingredient (I don't remember what it's called) is a mineral they use on race tracks when there's an oil slick.

[Adam H.]

Darn, if only I knew that sooner! I got the simple green, and it worked great, but now there is a nice coat of surface rust on the entire shirt. How can I get rid of it?



The fact that Im wearing a tan jacket makes it a little harder to see, but yeah.

[Adamo]

Options for cleaning it:
Wear it and move a lot (wear it over a shirt you don't care about).
Wire brush the whole thing.
Roll it with sand.
Dip it in Evapo-Rust.

One of those ought to do the trick.

Adam

[Atlanta Armory]

How much does the shirt weigh? If you're willing to pay for shipping both ways I can tumble it for you.

-Ben

[Graedwyn]

Wear it lots.
It will soon be shiny.

-Graedwyn

[matt9625]

Darn, if only I knew that sooner! I got the simple green, and it worked great, but now there is a nice coat of surface rust on the entire shirt. How can I get rid of it?



The fact that Im wearing a tan jacket makes it a little harder to see, but yeah.

LOL its brown. It reminds me of that person who was talking about makeing maille from leather rings.