rust prevention test summer 2023 edition

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kane22

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Feb 25, 2013
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Last summer I tested a bunch of different things with some surprising results. I was just using a piece of angle iron. I had an old shaft in the garage from something. I don't know what kind of steel it is, but I'm thinking some kind of tool steel. I cleaned it up on the belt sander, and figured I'd do another test with it. We'll see if the results are consistent. I sprayed it down with degreaser before putting a light coat of the rust preventatives on. Then I hit with the heat gun to give everything the best chance of getting into any scratches in the shaft. This will be redneck results, not lab results. I tried to apply them all as evenly as I could though. A light film of each one.

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1 Frog lube
2 Burts bees lip balm
3 my homemade beeswax mix
4 mineral oil
5 bare steel
6 3-1oil
7 Break free
8 Casey sheath
9 petroleum jelly
10 Kriol
The first 3 all did well last year, and are food safe. Mineral oil is cheap and food safe. I've seen 3-1 oil and the Casey's do well in tests on YouTube. Lots of people say break free and petroleum jelly. Kriol is something I've used in gun barrels for years. It has a really strong smell. That alone would rule it out for me, but I couldn't remember if I tested it last year or not. All the other ones I've tested. I think I'll leave them outside but not directly in the weather for the first week.
Place your bets now:)
 
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After 5 days outside with no rain, and not much humidity yet, they all look fine.

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No rain in the forecast so I'll hit it with the spray bottle once a day and see what happens. I noticed the #6 and 7 the 3-1 oil, and break free are the only two that have water droplets on the bottom. It looks like they my have both washed right off.
 
Hoping the sheath works out well as that is what I use for all my guns.
 
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Day 10. Still no rain, I've been hitting it with the spray bottle everyday. The bare steel #5 started to show rust spots within hours the first day it was wet. The mineral oil #4 was the next to go the following day. Casey sheath #8, and Kroil #10 are both showing some rust spots now.
Everything else is holding up. Break Free #7 might be the cleanest looking one so far, no water spots or dirt sticking to it.
Last summer when I did this we had lots of rain. The oils seemed to get washed off and fail. It's dry this year so far, and the oils are doing better.
 
Love this, great to see some independent testing going on. I think you're right about the consistency, the lighter products probably ran off. I suspect petroleum jelly and the burts bees will holder up very well.
 
I like seeing tests like this, thanks for doing it. Always wondered how the old recipe of 1:1 motor oil and transmission fluid would do. Has some additives which are also useful in guns and knives, and sticks around a long time. I use it on guns and have one which was oiled 9 years ago, stored in various places, and still has visible oil sticking to all the parts.
 
Garet-Jax said:
Thanks for doing this.
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It's always interesting to see what works.
jux t said:
I like seeing tests like this, thanks for doing it. Always wondered how the old recipe of 1:1 motor oil and transmission fluid would do. Has some additives which are also useful in guns and knives, and sticks around a long time. I use it on guns and have one which was oiled 9 years ago, stored in various places, and still has visible oil sticking to all the parts.
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I think I remember reading somewhere the Kriol was part trans fluid???
 
Also, (I apologize if you already addressed this) are you assessing short-term or long-term protection? It's just as important to know a given products' claimed duration of corrosion protection as well as its effectiveness in achieving that claim in the real world. For example, 3-in-1 oil is great for short term protection but I simply wouldn't expect it to protect for months or years, whereas something like WD-40 corrosion inhibitor or another VCI product offers the user more assurance of long term, effective protection.
 
nickycat said:
Disappointed that WD-40 Specialist Corrosion Inhibitor was not in the tests...this stuff has a very well known track record of having the best (objectively) long-term corrosion protection
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I've heard good things about that too, but I don't have any. I was leaning towards things that would be food safe when I started this last year, and just used oils had on hand.
nickycat said:
Also, (I apologize if you already addressed this) are you assessing short-term or long-term protection? It's just as important to know a given products' claimed duration of corrosion protection as well as its effectiveness in achieving that claim in the real world. For example, 3-in-1 oil is great for short term protection but I simply wouldn't expect it to protect for months or years, whereas something like WD-40 corrosion inhibitor or another VCI product offers the user more assurance of long term, effective protection.
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I'll keep going at least till we get down to the last couple. You guys can judge for yourself what would work best for your needs. Last year we were getting storms every other day. This year it's really dry.
I basically just wanted to see if I got the same results with a different steel.
 
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Day 20, after a few rain showers this week. Frog lube #1 and my homemade mix #3 both look perfect. There's a few little specs on the Berts bees #2. I'll let it go for a while longer. They were the three that did the best last year as well, so consistent results there.
I wish I would have done a forced patina on a section to see how well that held up, but I didn't think of it till this week.
 
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Definitely interesting. Did some reading on Froglube site, seems this stuff is a lubricant, degreaser, solvent...............and you could put it on your cornbread too.
Keep us posted Kane.
 
Kane, is your homemade mix a paste like the frog lube ? I would be more interested in the froglube lubricant/protectant results than the paste. Don't think I want that on my knife blades.
 
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