5 Tips on How to Prevent Rust
Rust can be more than just a cosmetic problem and cause serious damage and it is important to take some steps to prevent rust from ever affecting your possessions.
Rust can form on any metallic surface and it can affect everything from your car and boat to your screws and bolts or the different types of metal roofing. The distinctive powdery or flaky orange mark that appears on metallic objects indicating rust can be the harbinger of severe corrosion. Rust is the result of oxidation that happens when moisture and oxygen come into contact near metal objects.
Fe2O3.nH2O is the chemical combination of rust and while the scientific term means little or nothing to most of us, we all recognize rust when we see it. The corrosion that comes with rusting can be fast or slow depending on the environment. While it technically possible to reduce or reverse corrosion, it is a far better idea to prevent rust from forming in the first place.
Remember that rust is a combination of dampness and air and so store your tools or other metal possessions in a clean place. This can mean air-tight or well-ventilated depending on the object in question. But the idea is to make sure that musty air does not build up around your car, boat or your golf clubs. Any of these ones affected by rust can lose its structural stability and essentially become at a minimum unsafe and at worst unusable.
Moisture is the other big component of rust. So make it a point to clean your things after they have had any water exposure. So, whether it is your car, a set of tools or steel building home kits, you need to rinse and dry to make sure that water does not adhere for long to the surface. The underside of a car is particularly vulnerable to rust and so you should make it a point to address this area also by spraying your undercarriage and clearing away the dirt and dust collected there. Air drying your car and boat on nice sunny days can help in avoiding rust.
To prevent rust from forming, you should remember that moisture from your palms can get onto tools also and so as a matter of routine you should clean all things that you handle before putting them away for storage. This may be applicable in the case of guns where you may not see any visible evidence of moisture but the dampness from your hands is likely to have left a residue. So, wipe such objects down before putting them away.
Other than these basic precautions, you can also use some chemical solvents available in stores to prevent rust. You can use a coating of zinc though a process called galvanizing to protect the body of your car. This latter process will have to be done at a body shop. Another technique used to fight rust is called blueing and it involves rubbing oil that will help with water displacement, onto blued steel. Waxing cars or painting some surfaces also serves the same purpose in that these items work as a shield against water build-up on the metallic surface.
You can also use a dehumidifier in a tool shed or garage if you are concerned about the amount of humidity in the air. This will serve the purpose it is meant to and reduce the risk of rust.
These above mentioned steps can be very helpful if you want to prevent rust. If despite these efforts, you see any sign of rust you should act promptly to clean and treat the affected surface. As mentioned earlier rust is not just something that looks unappealing it actually has implications for safety and health and so you should not ignore a rusted pipe or a rusted railing. Even if the affected area appears small, that piece of metal is no longer structurally reliable and you should fix it at the earliest possible.