Treating Iron ?

Suggestions for treating iron which is unpainted, such as a wrought or cast architectural salvage which is now displayed indoors. In the past I've used thinned mineral oil or paste wax. Never been a fan of painting such pieces - looking for treatments other then the two mentioned ?

 

Hi Drew,
I have always used paste wax. Never ever had a problem. I used to use a black stove polish that I bought from the Amish Catalogue.
greg

 

If they are now indoors, what would be the purpose of treating?

 

To me, sometimes pieces seem dry and a coating seems to protect and add a richer luster.

 

Was it called "STOVE BLACK" ? I used that one in the 1970s, stinky stuff in a can worked perfectly on my rusted cast iron utilitarian stove!

 

WD-40

How To Clean Rust From Metal Furniture - WD-40 UK

 

Yep, stove blacking, common item in hardware stores ..well ....used to be ...yes?

 

Hi,
I used to see it in hardware stores but not any more. The last bottle I got was from the Amish Catalogue but I have not seen the catalogue in a few years so I switched to paste wax.
greg

 

An old fashioned treatment is to heat the iron (a heat gun would be sufficient) and apply raw linseed oil while it is hot. Boiled linseed oil contains metallic drying agents that might interact with the iron over time. However, well dried linseed oil can be difficult to remove in the future, if there was some reason to.

Wax is easier to remove and refurbish.

 

certainly depends on what it is and in what state. I don't know about the US "smear" for stoves but the European one was stinking and certainly had ingredients that were probably forbidden due to health regulations (solvents etc.).
Hammerite exists in spray now.
for good items that should fit in with the rest of the house I'd go for powder coating.
if it's an aluminum alloy I'd work with Alodine as first layer and then spray-paint.

 

Many years ago I tried linseed oil, then placed item in stove heated to 400 degrees to bond it into the iron (I had read of this method in a antiques book from the 1950's). It definitely sealed the iron with a hard coating - but in the process, filled the house with a linseed oil smoke ! My wife was thoroughly annoyed, but the Wrought iron lantern did look pretty good.

 

A coat of spray clear acrylic works great and comes in various sheens.

 

The Man and I just spent three days wire-brushing this rusty wood stove. It has been sitting in storage for years beyond measure. The Man resorted to a circular wire brush attached to an electric drill after my fingers curled into irreversible talons from hand-brushing. I did NOT use any sort of liquid rust remover as I have found it leaves even more rust when it dries. Finished it off with stove black, which does not smell in the U.S. It left a nice satiny glow. If left untreated, even indoors, in the Oregon climate, cast iron will rust again.

 

Yep, iron rusts before you know it here on Cape Cod also.

One seller at the local flea sells cast iron cookware. He buys it, gives it a lye bath, cleans it and then puts it out for sale. For some reason that's all he does, if it were me I would oil it. Anyway after a few weeks he noticed light rust starting on the surface.

 

There's a clear protective wax you can buy over here, if I can recall the name.

That cast iron cook ware would need to be proofed again. We always used salt, then never washed them up afterwards. Wiped out with newspaper.

 

Yep, he gives his buyers that information so once they start cooking on it they are seasoning it

 

My grandmother's ancient cast iron pan never needed fat adding. It got wiped out with newspaper and then sat on serious heat for five minutes. No bacteria survided THAT.

 

Hi,
I still use my Gram's old cast iron skillet. It gets wiped out with salt and a paper towel. Never washes it with soap just wipe out the mess with salt. It is the best frying pan that I use.
greg

 

I buy them when I find them at yard sales, then I give them to DH to cook with. After 6 months or so I give them a good salt cleaning and to the flea they go. They always sell