Post electrolysis preservation

There are different techniques for preserving iron once it comes out of electrolysis bucket. If you don't deal with it right away, the iron relics will often start to rust right before your eyes as soon as they dry off.

Some of my iron relics will get scrubbed with a baking powder paste as soon as they come out of the electrolysis bath to remove the black oxide coating, some won't. When I've cleaned enough oxide off to my liking, and rinsed it clean with water and toweled off, it goes right into an acetone soak for a minute to drive off any remaining water. After that it's either a coat of Renaissance wax or a good dousing in WD40. The WD40 treatment gets repeated a couple of times.

I'd like to hear how others (Donnie B...) preserve their iron.

Jeff

I'm a complete novice and only recently learned how to use electrolysis through watching YouTube videos. My method, at this time, is to perform the electrolysis and let the piece dry for about 30 minutes. That may not be enough drying time. I then coat the pieces heavily with Rustoleum Rust Reformer to try to stop the pieces from rusting again. I really like the flat black coat on the pieces when done. Here are a few of my better pieces: Attachment 59623Attachment 59624Attachment 59625Attachment 59626Attachment 59627

Try the acetone rinse to remove the moisture Donnie. Some iron relics will start to rust as soon as you expose them to the air. After a quick drying with paper towels to remove excess water, I'll put the relic into one of those cheap quart size plastic mixing containers, pour in a couple of ounces of acetone, let is soak for 30 seconds. If it is too big to be submerged in the acetone, just slosh it around for a minute. Remove the relic. Any trace amounts of acetone on the relic will evaporate in a few seconds. Then preserve the relic with your preferred coating.

I pour the acetone left in the plastic container back into the acetone can to use again.

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Originally Posted by Lodge Scent

Try the acetone rinse to remove the moisture Donnie. Some iron relics will start to rust as soon as you expose them to the air. After a quick drying with paper towels to remove excess water, I'll put the relic into one of those cheap quart size plastic mixing containers, pour in a couple of ounces of acetone, let is soak for 30 seconds. If it is too big to be submerged in the acetone, just slosh it around for a minute. Remove the relic. Any trace amounts of acetone on the relic will evaporate in a few seconds. Then preserve the relic with your preferred coating.


I pour the acetone left in the plastic container back into the acetone can to use again.

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Thanks for the tip. I will try it the next time I cook something. I really like finding iron relics now. I think I will do a couple of oxen shoes just because I find so many of them!

Thanks for the tips! I had no idea how to preserve any iron relics


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