Rust on Militaria!!!

[rommel42]

Has anyone ever experienced surface rust on bayonet scabbards, rifles, and other metal parts, but not aluminum. I know that you get white rust on aluminum (like one of my Heer buckles) but I have a steel Luftwaffe buckle that has about 90% of its blue coating, but the areas that are the most outward were silverish when I bought the buckle, now it has a orange "rust" tint to it, my bayonet scabbard accumulates surface rust every 2 weeks it seams, I rub it down with a gun cloth which stops the rusting on my rifles, but I was wondering if there are any other methods to stop or prevent rusting to my militaria.
Mike.

[cossack1648]

rust

Do you live in moist area or have a fishtank? I had a friend who had a fishtank and moiture from it caused rusting of his militaria. All sprayable liquid rust preventing oils evaporate with time. If you live in a moist area I would put gun grease. I do it on my guns. Maybe not pretty, but excellent rust preventer. With time it solidifies in to solid waxlike substance sealing metal from the air. It is easy to remove when needed with cloth and WD40.

Jack

[bobcam1]

RenWax

[rommel42]

Yes I live in the deep south, Savannah Ga, but thanks for the inputs I will be trying all of these!
Thanks,
Mike

[Ed Sunday]

When you have that much of a humidity problem you need a Dehumidifier. Then you can oil it up or Renwax it .

[Paul R.]

rommel42.. PLEASE Do a site search by using the search area on the upper right hand side of the page. Yes. Control Humidity. As a conservator it is the most important thing to do first.
Please stay away from plain gun oil on blades. REN WAX only.

[Stahlhelm]

Yes. Control Humidity. As a conservator it is the most important thing to do first.
Please stay away from plain gun oil on blades. REN WAX only.

I agree. Control humidity first. Buy a digital hygrometer and monitor the humidity levels with that. They are inexpensive and well worth the money.

Don't oil the blades; use Ren-Wax instead.

Chris

[1w12tstys7]

oil on knife blades

Ok I'm a neophyte, why do we not want gun oil on the blades of or bayonets and what is RENWAX

[Stahlhelm]

Ok I'm a neophyte, why do we not want gun oil on the blades of or bayonets and what is RENWAX

To begin with, oil is messy, unnecessary, attracts dust, and of course then makes the dust stick. The attracted dust then causes its own brand of problems that I won't go into. The mess of oil alone should be enough to turn any collector against it--especially when there's a much better alternative.

RenWax is the better alternative. It's a wax-based product which completely dries soon after application. It protects blades from humidity, etc., without the mess and without attracting dust. You can find it at most knife/cutlery shops and numerous places on the internet. Searching for "RenWax" here on the forum will yield a wealth of more specific, detailed information about it.

Hopefully helpful,

Chris

[Steve P]

To begin with, oil is messy, unnecessary, attracts dust, and of course then makes the dust stick. The attracted dust then causes its own brand of problems that I won't go into. The mess of oil alone should be enough to turn any collector against it--especially when there's a much better alternative.

RenWax is the better alternative. It's a wax-based product which completely dries soon after application. It protects blades from humidity, etc., without the mess and without attracting dust. You can find it at most knife/cutlery shops and numerous places on the internet. Searching for "RenWax" here on the forum will yield a wealth of more specific, detailed information about it.

Hopefully helpful,

Chris

I've just purchased Renaissance Wax and used it for the first time...I Highly Recommend this solution for a superb result!