Taking Care of Steel Armour – Do’s and Don’ts

Medieval Collectibles is proud to offer an array of steel armour. You may be wondering how to take care of your steel armour. Here is a list of the Do’s and Don’ts of taking care of steel armour as well as some products to use in keeping your armour in top condition.

Don’ts

Don’t leave the metal bare

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make when taking care of steel armour is leaving it bare. This means that they have left the armour with no coating to keep the metal from coming in contact with water. This is especially problematic with steel armour over other metals since steel is partially iron. When iron comes in direct contact with water and other corrosive substances, it will start to rust. This is bad for armour. Without any coating, armour will eventually rust through. This will either happen quickly or slowly depending on the amount of water it comes in contact with, but it will happen regardless. Even some moisture in the air or perspiration from the wearer will cause rust. This is why steel armour must have some kind of protective coating.

Don’t wash it with soap

There a couple of reasons why you do not want to wash armour with soap. The first is that soap requires water to work and the second is that soap removes oils and waxes. Together this means that not only does washing with soap make the steel come in contact with water, but it also removes the coating that protects it. This is a recipe for rusted armour, and no one wants to wear rusted armour. Other oil or wax solvents are better used if removing the coating is desired (such as replacing one type of coating for another). Mineral spirits are commonly used in various industries to degrease metal parts and will therefore be helpful in removing the coating on a piece of armour. Lacquer thinner can also be used. However, lacquer thinner should not be used on blackened armour. It can cause a negative reaction with the dark finish.

Do’s

Keep it oiled or waxed.

As mentioned above, steel armour needs some kind of coating that can repel water. This is usually some kind of hydrophobic product, aka the product repels water. Your armour will arrive from us already with an existing coating. This coating may not to be to your preference, but if you wish to remove it, you must replace it with another coating. Seriously, this cannot be stressed enough. Steel armour must have a water repellant coating. Coatings can include various waxes and oils. One easy to get product would be WD-40. Other options include mineral oil such as liquid paraffin or a machining oil. A product that we sell, Renaissance Wax, would work well for this purpose. In addition, you should periodically re-oil or wax your armour to make sure that you maintain the armour coating.