Lanolin based rust proofing products

[reb78]

There seems to be increased talk of lanolin based rust proofing products and their effectiveness. Searching around on google its easy to go down a rabbit warren of reading reviews etc on the manufacturers websites and then they become a self fulfilling prophecy that will weld your car back together as they destroy rust... (a bit like our favourite waxoylers old websites and cartoons in the LR rags)...

Lanoguard seems the most common but is expensive. What other options are there are they all much of a muchness or is one worth paying for over the other?

[smallfry]

You must be telescopic ! I was just going to post a thread on this very subject !

I agree, they are so good that they will morph the rust back into solid metal. All the reviews seem to be based on the ease of application, rather than any on long term effectiveness. Those that are, on being used on new vehicles which should not be going rusty yet, so are meaningless for anyone with an older vehicle.

Its easy to apply stuff over badly prepared surfaces, and I am not convinced that it is that easy. I mean, its easy to paint on top of rust, damp, and dirt, but it will ultimately be a waste of time. I am also concerned that it needs re applying every year to be "effective". You do not have to do this with Bilt Hamber, which is my favourite, athough it wouldnt hurt, except for your pocket of course, and the lanolin products are much more expensive. However, I am always on the look out for something better !

Selling this stuff (and more traditional products) is great. When you get a customer complaint, you can just fob them off, saying its all down to poor application.

As we all know, you are pi**ing into the wind with rust inhibiting in any case. Nature always wins.

Is there anyone out there who has real life long term experience with old vehicles ? 

[Anderzander]

Doesn’t @Nonimouse use them ? Or did dream that ? 
 

I know the Aussie 4x4 guy .. what’s his name, lots of videos on YouTube, big beard … anyway he’s done some reports on it and rates it - and the underside of his truck looked very good. 

[smallfry]

24 minutes ago, Anderzander said:

Doesn’t @Nonimouse use them ? Or did dream that ? 
 

I know the Aussie 4x4 guy .. what’s his name, lots of videos on YouTube, big beard … anyway he’s done some reports on it and rates it - and the underside of his truck looked very good. 

Yes but Australia ? Only rains once every ten years, and the rest of the time is 30 degrees plus. Or so I am told.

[Anderzander]

It’s a big place - they have lots of climates, but I don’t know where he’s based, or if it comes into contact with salt so you’re  possibly right 

[simonr]

Lanolin must work - when have you ever seen a rusty Sheep? 😉

I guess that applies to Snakes with Snake-Oil too!

Just sayin' 🙂

[Mo Murphy]

3 hours ago, simonr said:

Lanolin must work - when have you ever seen a rusty Sheep? 😉

I guess that applies to Snakes with Snake-Oil too!

Just sayin' 🙂

Boom !

[smallfry]

4 hours ago, simonr said:

Lanolin must work - when have you ever seen a rusty Sheep? 😉

I guess that applies to Snakes with Snake-Oil too!

Just sayin' 🙂

They could be from the same factory ?

Badge engineering like British Leyland

[Tobias]

So, no votes for sheep wool fat and one vote for Bilt Hamber? Correctly understood?

T

[Bowie69]

Well, honestly I struggle to see the benefit of lanolin over proven products, like Bilt/waxoyl/dinitrol etc.

[reb78]

Its the 'creep' of these as a relatively light product that appeals. Whereas a lot of the wax based products are quite thick unless you thin them down with white spirit, i am guessing these lanolin based products creep well being thin? Trade off seems to be the need to coat more often?
 

Waxoyl does seem to dry out eventually, nicely hiding rust underneath. I have always mixed mine with old engine oil and that's worked ok. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by reb78

[Bowie69]

White waxoyl?

Bilt dynax is really quite thin and creepy 😳 

[Mo Murphy]

I quite like the look of lanolin and I'm going to give it a go when I get round to re-doing mine. It does look easier to apply and if it is then that's going to make reapplication easier which means it's more likely to be done rather than put off.

Mo

[smallfry]

7 hours ago, reb78 said:

Its the 'creep' of these as a relatively light product that appeals. Whereas a lot of the wax based products are quite thick unless you thin them down with white spirit, i am guessing these lanolin based products creep well being thin? Trade off seems to be the need to coat more often?
 

Waxoyl does seem to dry out eventually, nicely hiding rust underneath. I have always mixed mine with old engine oil and that's worked ok. 

The creep on Lanolin seems to more heat dependent than oil based stuff, although its always better to treat the vehicle when its hot weather.

I dont rate waxoyl at all. I have cut up a few vehicles that have been treated, and found it dried out on top of galloping rust, but then again, box sections on old vehicles are impossible to clean up properly beforehand.

I cant find any answers regarding applying lanolin on top of previously applied oil based products either. Emails have not been replied to !

[FridgeFreezer]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:55 PM, Bowie69 said:

Well, honestly I struggle to see the benefit of lanolin over proven products, like Bilt/waxoyl/dinitrol etc.

Same here - and you can buy most of those with varying degrees of "creep" etc. - Dinitrol do a few variations depending on whether you're trying to get it to wick into nooks & crannies or set fairly solid as a coating on a chassis etc.

Their numbering system sucks though.

[chuff]

I have used lanoguard spray and also use waxoyl regularly. 

I mix wayoyl 50 50 with new oil, otherwise it flakes off after 6 months, personally I think it's carp and does nothing especially over even a tiny amount of rust. The lanoguard is different, it dries very sticky and clingy and goes on thin so it gets into the panel laps and penetrates surface rust. Lanolin doesn't dry out like petrochemicals.

Is it worth it? No probably not. The best rust proofing is oil and dust. Ever scraped around a gearbox or steering box? Factory paint still on the chassis there while the rest of the car is rotten. 

[FridgeFreezer]

12 hours ago, chuff said:

I have used lanoguard spray and also use waxoyl regularly. 

That's my issue with a lot of these things - you shouldn't have to use it regularly, it should be treated and then last for 5+ years at a minimum like modern stuff does.

If someone sold you a tin of paint and told you you'd have to re-paint the thing annually you'd throw it back in their face. May as well buy a big tin of WD40 and spray that over the chassis annually, probably have a very similar effect.

[Anderzander]

One thing that really appeals about the lanolin products is the way it repaints the underside of the car - that seems like a massive time saver.

[Turnips]

I used to be a regular waxoyl user. I have come to the conclusion over the last ten years that unless you have the vehicle from an 'as new' condition, nothing is going to work that well. Like @FridgeFreezersays, you end up having to redo whatever it is that you are using. Waxoyl has the problems of creating a scab which still rusts underneath - meaning you have to scrape off the treatment from a year or two ago and reapply, although it looks great when freshly done! For something which is scabby underneath some kind of oil treatment before winter can hold it back but we all know it's a losing battle.

I'll be using Dinitrol on the 109, but I wouldn't bother if whatever I was applying it to was already rusty.

[ThreePointFive]

On 5/5/2022 at 1:44 PM, reb78 said:

 a self fulfilling prophecy that will weld your car back together as they destroy rust... (a bit like our favourite waxoylers old websites and cartoons in the LR rags)...

Thanks for the reminder this existed, a quick google confirms the same old tricks, very entertaining.

[FridgeFreezer]

3 hours ago, Turnips said:

I'll be using Dinitrol on the 109, but I wouldn't bother if whatever I was applying it to was already rusty.

Dinitrol do stuff that can be sprayed onto existing rust - just need to check the descriptions, as I said their numbering system sucks and makes it hard to find the right thing to buy.

[reb78]

I have some rusty patches on the L322 I have just bought. I spoke to a body shop and they reckoned the underside was sound and just needed treating. Thats what has stimulated this question really. Maybe I do one side with lanoguard and the other with dinitrol and see what happens as we run up to winter?!

What Dinitrol product is used for existing rust with best effect?

With waxoyl i cant see it working at all.

[ThreePointFive]

On one of the Defender polisher forums there's a lot of fuss about Dinitrol but the overwhelming consensus is that you have to kill the rust first with a converter (Bilt Hamber do an excellent one) and only then should Dinitrol be applied.

[FridgeFreezer]

Dinitrol's RC900 (I think) is another rust-killing thing, I think they're mostly phosphoric acid?

Anyway, @reb78 you'd have to read the descriptions on Dinitrol's site, they do some products for "clean" metal and some for existing rust. Buzzweld do a "chassis in one" paint that's supposed to do it all, as do Corroless.

I've used all of them on various things and they all seem to mostly do what they say, unfortunately the only real answer is wait 10 years and see how they're holding up

[Bowie69]

19 minutes ago, FridgeFreezer said:

I think they're mostly phosphoric acid

Correct, plus a rubbery compound that is then painted over. If it turns purple and sets, it is likely the same stuff as Bilt -though I have experience of Bilt and it is very good.