rust prevention for long term storage

[Nelson Bradley]

I'm going to be away from home for about a year so I'm trying to figure out the best way to prevent rust on my tools. Right now I'm debating between thick coats of T9 on my cast iron or just going straight to cosmoline. On my handtools I was thinking of using breakfree CLP. I've had really good results with it on my firearms in pretty rough conditions. I think as long as I degrease the handtools prior to use it should work fine.

Most of my tools are stored in a garage in Central MS, the humidity is very high here. The small tools are kept in drawers with silica gel packets. My wife has a tendency to leave the garage open and I won't be here to maintain any tools. I'm open to any suggestions or similar experiences. Thanks.

[Erik C. Hammarlund]

Silly question, but... can you put your tools in an enclosed area (box, crate, on the floor wrapped with plastic and duct taped, etc)? if you could have a single small air space then you would have little difficulty dehumidifying it, I would think.

[Nelson Bradley]

I initially thought about putting everything in my storage room with a dehumidifier. It would be a tight fit, but not impossible. My big concern with this is the dehumidifier has to be emptied and I'm trying to keep everything as low maintenance as possible. My wife will have her hands full without having to worry about my tools.

I've never used a dehumidifier before so I might be way off base with that thought. Am I overthinking this?

[Steve Kohn]

In my limited experience with dehumidifiers they all have a hose connection that you can attach a garden hose to. Then you can leave gravity drain the tank for you.

[Chip Lindley]

Your own solution works as well as any! Easier to remove preservative than rust!! I would cover the cast iron surfaces with plastic as much as is practicle. Rust from humidity is one thing; rodent excretions leaves nasty scars on CI also! eww!

[Lee Schierer]

Cosmoline has a proven track record for long term storage. T-9 works fairly well in my experience, but not as well as cosmoline. If you go the T-9 route, spray it on really heavy and let it stand. Do not wipe it down. The T-9 will leave a sticky film on the surface, which can be removed with a new application of T-9.

[Ben Rafael]

Another vote for cosmoline. It will easily last a year and you can be certain that any surface it is covering will not get rusty.

[Dave Bender]

X3 on Cosmoline or Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector (very much like cosmoline).

[Bill White]

for a year, but I have always had good luck with plain old LPS 3 and 5.
Bill

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Cosmo'~!! Why risk it?

[Jude Tuliszewski]

Good ol Vaseline petroleum jelly smeared on liberally with a brush, rag, hand will do the job and be cheap as well. After coating the CI surfaces with the Vaseline put a couple layers of plastic wrap (the stuff used for food) or if you want use thicker mill stuff. It will work as well as cosmo but will come off easier when you get back to using the tools. You can do the same for hand tools as well and to clean them, you just use mineral spirits in a bucket to get off the Vaseline. For stuff that might have been exposed to salty air or for very long term storage I would agree with the cosmline.

[chris yount]

We recieve large parts at work that are shipped across the ocean that have been coated with a product named tectyl then wrapped with plastic or black tar paper.you clean it off with mineral spirits and a scraper.It works much better than cosmoline.I dont know if is commercially avalible but it is good stuff.

[Sonny Edmonds]

...of what your local is and problems faced.
I'd go with cozmoline if it was me.
I've seen and cleaned army surplus metal preserved with cozmoline and it hadn't failed.
My tools that were covered with it were cleaned with mineral spirits and about a ton of paper towels. Took it right off.
Then I cleaned it with a high flash solvent and waxed the peedootly out of stuff with Johnson's.
It's going to take a darned good coating of coz though.

[Nelson Bradley]

I really appreciate everyone's input. It sounds like the general consensus is cosmoline with plastic wrap. I feel pretty comfortable with it since I've never seen the Army give me anything rusted that was packed in cosmo. The good news is I should have 60 days of terminal leave by the time I get back to clean everything up and mess around in the shop (garage ).