Armour Maintenance

[Sir Michael Geare]

I am not knowledgable in the maintenance of armour as I am with swords so I am asking for advice.  I am trying to clean some armor that I have for a group and there is some rust development.  There is too much for normal rust erasers to fix.  I have used fine steel wool on some of the problem weapons.  Can/should I use fine steel wool on it like I do on my swords?  After said rust is removed, do I use normal sword/gun oil?  I heard a good coat of car wax helps keep armour in tip top shape.  Is this true?

[Jon Den Haag]

I had a decent amount of rust in a few spots on my armor after wearing it for a day. I saturated the areas with liquid wrench and covered the spots with a rag soaked in the stuff. I let it sit for a day before I started with the rust eraser. I used the eraser because I didn't have anything readily available. I thought about a wire wheel attachment for my drill, but i was concerned about gouging the steel too deeply. A fine bristle wire brush would have worked nicely. Anyway, with some time, two rust erasers, several rags, and about half a can of liquid wrench, I removed all the rust. I coated everything with windlass rust blocker and it's almost a year later and not one spec of rust. When I stored it, I also wrapped everything in those liquid wrench soaked rags. At the very least they absorbed any moisture in the bins that everything was in. My father has lots of tools and he runs a dehumidifier in his basement to keep everything from rusting. I thought of doing the same and storing my armor with the tools in my basement or garage.

Next time I wear the stuff, I will make it a point to clean it right away because I was lazy and let everything sit for a week.

Get windlass rust blocker!

[Merlin the Elder]

We used to use "000" steel wool to remove rust from traded-in guns at our gun shop. Unless you got really crazy with it, it's so fine a wool that it can remove the rust without touching the bluing. Some gun oil on the steel wool and you should be able to remove rust without leaving any tell-tale marks. Until you get used to doing it, start on a spot that's less conspicuous, in case you're heavy-handed.

[crazyrennie]

just throwing in a bit more advice-
I also put packets of silica beads in my armor containers-
it actually does work to attract moisture.
aside from that what the other have suggested is spot on advice!
Crazyrennie

[Jon Den Haag]

Silica beads! Gotta remember to keep those next time. Baking soda works too! I got the mildew out of a car with leaky T-tops with baking soda. Took a couple of days though. Just put an open container of it inside the crate or box you store your steel in. It will need to be changed out every few months. I imagine the silica would last longer.

[Sir Michael Geare]

Thanks for the advice.  I'll give it a try.