Vaseline question

[relics2007]

I've heard so many successful stories of using vaseline to treat zinc pest and such. Can some one tell me exactly what kind of vaseline should I be using? Is it the vaseline skin lotion that you're talking about? Thank you much in advance!

[Rylan]

Vaseline is just a brand name of petroleum jelly, do NOT use any skin lotion on your badge... It doesn't even have to be vaseline, just regular petroleum jelly. That is what keeps air from the zink surface of the badge or medal.

Once again, use ONLY regular petroleum jelly. And wash the badge first with an acid free soap. After washing besure to dry it off, then smear vaseline on the badge/medal and get every spot. After doing so leave it for 12 hours and whipe away with a clean cotton cloth.

That is what I was told, it should be correct.

[relics2007]

Thank you for the warning Rylan. I'll probably try both Ren Wax and the petroleum jelly as suggested.

Vaseline is just a brand name of petroleum jelly, do NOT use any skin lotion on your badge... It doesn't even have to be vaseline, just regular petroleum jelly. That is what keeps air from the zink surface of the badge or medal.

Once again, use ONLY regular petroleum jelly. And wash the badge first with an acid free soap. After washing besure to dry it off, then smear vaseline on the badge/medal and get every spot. After doing so leave it for 12 hours and whipe away with a clean cotton cloth.

That is what I was told, it should be correct.

[Mike H]

Ren Wax

Why Ren Wax?

[Gary B]

Hi Mike,

Ren Wax is used on daggers to keep moisture away from the metal parts (blades/crossguards etc). I assume/suppose that using Ren Wax would have the same desired results as petroleum jelly (plus there would not be a shiny greasy finish).

Gary B

[Stu W]

Ren Wax

Hi there Mike,

I'm a fan of Renaissance Wax. I am also aware that others have tried it on badges with good results. It's a staple over on GDC where daggers are concerned. There is an interesting thread on it here...

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=Ren+Wax

Have a read. It's not long.

Regards,
Stu

[Stahlhelm]

My advice is also to stay away from the petroleum jelly. There's certainly no need to use it with the Ren-Wax either. Actually, it would create nothing but a mess to use both of them. As other's have said, the Ren-Wax will have the prtecting, sealing effect that you want, without the sticky mess of petroleum jelly.

Chris

[Rylan]

I think vaseline works fine, and although it seems like a mess. Once you wipe it down it is fine. Here is a "before" and "after" of a SWB I did. Looks great and no more zinc pest

[Stahlhelm]

Hi Rylan,

First, thanks for posting the before and after photos of the zinc pest infected, vaseline-treated badge. From the wonderful results you've shown, I must say that I'm now a new believer in the effectiveness of vaseline. It obviously works to remove the zinc pest very well. So, I'd say that it could be best to first remove the pest with vaseline, and then apply the Ren-Wax to hopefully protect it from further zinc pest.

Thanks a bunch for the result photos! That sure is great information for me too! Fortunately, I don't currently have anything infected with zinc pest, but if I ever do, I'll sure know what to do now.

Chris

[Rob E.]

Neato, I have a SWB that I want to try this on.

Many thanks.

[Rob E.]

Oh, and would this work on zinc dog-tags?

[Stahlhelm]

Rylan:

I have one more question. After removing the zinc pest with the vaseline, what did you use to so thoroughly remove the vaseline from the badge? Since I see no evidence of vaseline on the badge in the second photo, you obviously did a great job of removing it.

Thanks,

Chris

[Rylan]

Rylan:

I have one more question. After removing the zinc pest with the vaseline, what did you use to so thoroughly remove the vaseline from the badge? Since I see no evidence of vaseline on the badge in the second photo, you obviously did a great job of removing it.

Thanks,

Chris

Hello Chris,

This was the only badge I have done so far. But the results were pretty good, and I had no problem with the Vaseline. The Vaseline did not actually remove the zinc pest, all the Vaseline does and will hopefully continue to do, is keep a thin layer covering the badge so it will protect it from being exposed to air.

To get all the zinc pest off, I took a big bowl of warm distilled water, and I used a bar of dove soap because it is non acidic. I made some suds in the water and soaked my badge for a few minutes. Then I just gently cleaned it with my fingers while in the water, after that I carefully dried it off. Once you clean it, you need something to protect it from the air. I am sure the other products suggested will work just as well, Vaseline is the only one I have tried so far.

After the badge was dry, I covered it in Vaseline and left it for 12 hours. I then used a 100% cotton t-shirt to wipe off all the Vaseline. To get into the tricky parts I used a Q-tip, it actually worked better than I figured it would.

When I was first told to smother my badge is Vaseline I thought somebody was playing a weird trick on the new guy, but it actually worked very well. The main thing is to clean it, then protect it, with whatever product you prefer.

[Rob E.]

I just tried using Vaseline and a toothbrush on some reichsmark coins and a SWB, and I must say they look much nicer now.

I rubbed in the Vaseline with my fingers, let it sit about 5 minutes, and then scrubbed it with a toothbrush whilst the item in question rested on a white towel.

I could see the dirt on the towel after some brief scrubbing.

I then rinsed it off in the sink and dried it off with the towel very thoroughly.

I tried this method on a Heer dogtag, but didn't have any success with it.

[Stahlhelm]

Rylan:

Thanks for the extra details!

Chris