Roman Metal Armour-Polished or Dull?

[Magnus]

Living near the sea as I do, I fight a constant war against rust :evil: ...and have tried just about every preventative under the sun.....olive oil is O.K. But it ( and any other vegetable oils) tend to leave a 'build-up' coat.

I have found a substance that works perfectly, and it is one that the Romans would have been very familiar with......Lanolin! (from Sheeps wool.)
I use this in two forms...thick lanolin ( like vaseline) for storage, and on user days, I wipe this off and replace it with a fine coat of sprayed-on liquid lanolin - a wipe with a rag leaves a non-greasy sheen. A coat of thick Lanolin and back into storage.......problems with rust are a thing of the past !! D

Hey Paul,

Do you know how they thin the lanolin by chance?