Lanolin Rustproofing Your Vehicle

Lanolin Rustproofing Your Vehicle

So, you have decided to rustproof your vehicle, probably going to use a lanolin based coating, and want to know more? Whilst we sell our own lanolin coatings, we want this guide to help you decide if the coating is right for you.

What is claimed lanolin can do for me.. ALOT! lets look closer at each claim. These claims are spread across various manufacturers including ourselves. Green ones are claimed by our coating Chassis Guard. Black ones are claims from other sites.

• Is lanolin rustproofing Instantly waterproof?

Ok, so instant waterproofing can be taken many ways. Pushing moisture out and sealing something, sealing something that is dry, sealing something dry instantly. The only thing a typical lanolin coating can do of these is to lightly seal an area that is dry. The coatings currently available that we have looked at including ours do not possess enough dewatering process to push moisture away for claim 1, and lanolin in itself never "sets". When you put it in something else it actually retards the cure time. I wouldn't recommend using Chassis Guard for an instant waterproofing. Although it sounds good, id chalk this one up to marketing.; Can it do it? yes, just not instantly. Every single lanolin "rustproofing" coating including chassis guard i have seen needs several hours to cure. Chassis guard even uses polymerisation to create its own heat to help cure, and instant waterproofing is not a claim i would like to make. Additionally the coating should be allowed to dry prior to use, allowing it to be used whilst just applied / wet can lead to the longevity of the protection offered being compromised. In short, apply the coatings to a dry base, and allow it to dry inline with the manufacturers instructions. For chassis guard this is typically 6>12 hours.

• Does lanolin rustproofing provide long lasting results?

This is a claim that does not fully sit well with me. For a rustproofing coating to "last long" its subjective. I would say it needs to be measured in years not months. Every lanolin coating except lanopaint i have seen measures duration in months. When they have been measured in years there are multiple reports, including my own experience of it being circumstantial, not the norm. That isn't to say there is not a product that is unable to last that long, its just i have not seen it yet. The only reason Lanopaint can outlast these coatings is because you have to use it more like a paint than a convenience coating like chassis guard. Chassis guard is lanolin oil, lanopaint, is as per the title, more of a paint. if your expectation of long is 6>12 months then this is indeed a long lasting coating. Given how easy these coatings are to apply 6>12 months may well be considered long lasting by many, as it beats a traditional chassis anti corrosive wash by an order of magnitude.

• Does lanolin rustproofing apply directly on surface rust?

Now we are getting to claims where i feel these coatings can live up to expectations. A common miss conception is that rust spreads in a way that it festers like a cancer and grows. This is incorrect. Corrosion Fe2O3 comes from basically steel. If you only had rust, you would not get more rust. The reason rust is traditionally "difficult" to  "stop" is because coatings are trying to do two things. They are trying to soak in and remove the causes of corrosion- moisture, air, and also seal the surface., The surface of rust is akin to the grand canyon in profile, and a piece of prepared fresh steel is more like sommerset plains. So you are asking the coating to be thin enough to push into all the contours of the metal and rust, sealing it up, but also asking it to be thick enough to cover the "mountains" as in the peaks of the metal that will still rust if left exposed or not covered sufficiently. Paints struggle as well because they tend to cure very very fast, as in within an hour most coatings stop flowing. Lanolin rustproofing is generally made from a mineral oil, or plant oil base. Now there are many variations of this and some solvent blends, but the fact remains that most of the current offerings are a 1,2,3 day or more "cure". that means they have ALOT of time to keep moving and soaking it. They also are cheap, and are applied in imprecise ways like hand sprayers. This tends to hose it on, and cover the peaks. As a result a lanolin coating whilst doing nothing with the rust itself is very well equipped to arrest corrosion. Chassis guard is fully plant based for the tinned coatings, and whilst it is one of the fastest and least smelly of the coatings on offer, still has plenty of cure "open time" to search out the surface and hermetically seal it. I approve of this claim

• Is lanolin rustproofing Highly resistant to jet wash, heat and acid?

This claim is a good one. Vehicles can be exposed to all manner of  conditions. Pressure washing  is typical. However there is an important factor that most marketing misses. HOW TACKY IS THE COATING. read more on this below. Moreover all of the lanolin coatings i have looked at resist pressure washing really well. When it comes to acids, fuels and heat the claims and reality start to separate. This is akin to coating manufacturers taking some car paint and bending it in half. Looks awesome, but if you look at the reality- if your metal of your vehicle has bent that much, you have much bigger problems!. Of the coatings that were fully petrol resistant they went very sticky, and turned black in a burnt charcoal kind of way. I fell that these coatings are so easy to redo, and that when they make the vehicle look bad, that outside of being resistant to pressure washing, and general temperature fluctuations the rest of the claims are a bit pointless.

• Does lanolin rustproofing prevent nuts and bolts seizing?

Probably the single best "cost saving" you can get from using these coatings. Being able to work on a vehicle either as your garage or yourself and not having every item fight you is a brilliant one. The slow cure mentioned above lends itself to being able to creep. How much varies between product, but they all seemed to creep and help here. Ideally this needs to be atomised behind the fitting as well. For this chassis guard with an aerosol and a lance is streets ahead of a pressurised hand sprayer as they cannot generate the force to atomise from my testing, so tend to dribble and flood inside the cavity protecting the bottom of the cavity but not the sides or top.

• Is lanolin rustproofing Safe for use on rubbers, plastics and electric components?

A mineral oil base is a petroleum chemical derived from refining crude oil. Some of the biggest lanolin brands use this as a carrier / binder. Mineral oil can actually cause rubber to degrade and swell. This is actually used in some "stop engine leaks" type products. It is worth considering how safe the coating is for rubber and other such items. Especially with many wiring looms being plant based plastics nowadays, it is generally safer to opt for a fully plant based lanolin rustproofing than risking it with other product types. Chassis Guard is formulated to actually rejuvenate rubbers, and poly, so is superb as a trim restorer.

• Is lanolin rustproofing fully sustainable?

A rather loaded word. For you to get your product it needs to include the entire process, packaging, manufacture of materials, equipment needed, staff lives to think of etc. How far do you go? its a claim that can be made but i have never seen satisfied fully. Chassis guard may be plant based, and the lanolin is "renewable", but what about the sprayer top, the bottle is PCR but not 100% renewable in my opinion. I make the claim chassis guard is "green" and we make steady progress towards that "fully sustainable" claim, but i fell to claim this with any credibility  you need to include your entire supply chain includuing delivery, packaging, staff, equipment manufacture etc. I see the lanolin coatings as generally "doing less damage" rather than actually assisting the planet.  

• Is lanolin rustproofing non-conducting?

For the purposes of rustproofing this claim doesn't make sense, but we need to remember that many of these coatings have multiple uses. Chassis guard for example rejuvenates rubber and can be used as a patina preserver. If you are thinking of spraying onto electrical circuits this would be an important one. If you are spraying over existing wiring on a vehicle and you need it to not conduct again, i would say you have bigger problems. Paints, underseals etc i have never seen venture into this line of marketing.

• Is lanolin rustproofing non-leaching?

Different brands Have a different take on this. Some are saying that the coating does not spread to other surfaces, others saying it is a useful coating on things like plastics etc. In short most of these coatings once "dry" may retain a level of tack, but do not tend to transfer to other surfaces unless are exposed to elevated temperatures where some can become fluid again. In testing one coating you can however touch it with your hand, and if you touch anotehr surface that new surface also appears greasy. This is why Chassis guard in most senses of the word is fully curing- It will not transfer.

• Is lanolin rustproofing Marine Grade?

I feel this a buzz word. The best way to sell products is to rate it for something "higher" than its intended purpose then downgrade it for your actual target market. By definition i feel that there will be far more customers in the domestic DIY environment for lanolin rustproofing than industrial. On an industrial basis it just doesn't last long enough to have widespread application. Yes it is used in industry as are domestic cleaners sometimes used in the nuclear industry BUT its not the target market. We see this in coatings "if it works on oil rigs"- yet the oil rig is a drier saltier more intense environment compared to the underbody of a vehicle that may stay gently wet for years at a time. two problems, two different solutions.

• Does Lanolin Rustproofing make my vehicle black?

Generally speaking the lanolin coatings are clear. Why is this? A clear coating allows you to spot issues within the coating, but it does not highlight them. It is the best compromise. If you make the coating black two things will happen. 1- You cannot see what is going on underneath the coating, and this means you may just top it up and keep going with a problem you are unaware of. The second is that black will actually HIGHLIGHT PROBLEMS but only on the surface. Given these coatings are applied in imprecise ways, mostly by customers enjoying the convenience factor the chances of there being defects in the applied coating (generally just not hit all angles well enough), are very high. If the coating isn't fully applied correctly there will be some limited corrosion that can continue to take place. This will run rust stains across the surface and make it look like the coating supplied doesn't even work. These are typically minor imperfections that are easy to remedy, but with the coating having a 6>12 month life typically, throw in that you can put the coating over heavier rust and use it to help remove the existing rust, you have a recipe for marketing disaster even though making and selling a black lanolin is easy, and the coatings work fine. So no, the clear coatings will darken rust and improve the look somewhat, but if you want black it is not widely available i suspect for the above reasons.

Chassis guard is only available in clear. My reasoning for this is that it is a cheap, easy to use and remove coating. If you want a colour you should do more prep so it looks nicer, and that extra effort should be rewarded with improved longevity. As a result i recommend Zero Prep UP fopr a black, or something that outl;ansts any lanolin coating i have tried. the trade of is that it is hard to remove, solvent based, and priced higher than chassis guard.

• Is lanolin rustproofing easy to apply?

Across the board i fell this is important and for the most part all manufacturers are doing well at. There are some brands that use unrefined materials and refuse to refine them. As a result its common for their equipment to fail in application. But every product i have seen has the same basic recommendation. Get it as clean as you can, take off any flakey paint and rust and off you go.

• Is lanolin rustproofing British-made

A great British Success" i have not seen any coating that isn't made here in the UK! i believe some are batch produced and delivered, and some are made in house. Lanolin blending varies massively. For chassis guard we have managed to reduce the energy input by 95% to blend. I am very happy with this one. more on that in a later post.

• Is lanolin rustproofing sticky or dry?

​You always want to sell your product to the widest market. More sales, lower costs, more profit. Saying the coating has to be applied to a bone dry base will put some purchasers off. I feel a product or two stretch this a bit to appeal to a wider base. If the base is wet will it work? yes most  likely, but with increasingly degrading results the more wet and rough it is. As a result with chassis guard we took a different approach. Splash is a dewatering agent that will work with chassis guard (and all of the other lanolin coatings i have tried. you spray it on, and allow it to dry for 6>12 hours. As a result you now have a sealed, protected base for your lanolin coating, with no energy input to force dry. whats more it will extend the longevity of the coating applied. we call this having your cake and eating it ;)

• Is lanolin rustproofing non-toxic?

Non toxic is described under CLP. Even though chassis guard is plant based, and lanolin in itself is not hazardous i would not consider it to be edible. SO non toxic most are, some are not - see their labeling. I would rather be exposed to a plant based oil than a petro chemical mineral oil as well. However, all much safer than your average paint.

• Is lanolin rustproofing water-proof?

The idea behind using these products is to stop the rust. I fell every product cures to a varying degree and seals the surface for a time. Waterproof Yes.

• Is lanolin rustproofing made of unique materials

I see increasingly about how the marketing in the sector has moved to magic formulations, unique materials made just for that supplier, and other things to help brands differentiate themselves. How is chassis guard marketed? Well i just tell you its made from all plant based materials. To get 6>12 months longevity you do not need anything especially "special". Standardised materials that are mass produced for a range of uses will suffice. This is partly how chassis guard is up to 300% cheaper than the competition. We do not have anything in chassis guard that isn't available to the competition. What we do differently is refine our process, use less energy, use standardised materials (cheaper), but use fully refined lanolin (no moisture or contamination), and we don't spend a high percentage of the money made from you on advertising.

• Is lanolin rustproofing Cost effective?

There are two main business models. The more modern approach is the "more" approach. See it more, pay it more, more information, and much much more marketing. Marketing is an expensive gamble with any product where you hope to make a return. The opposite is the "word of mouth" principle. This is where your product literally has to sell itself. It gets minimal marketing, promotion, and if it doesn't satisfy your customers its as good as dead unless you gamble and switch to the more approach. Chassis guard is firmly in the "word of mouth" area. We do not charge you for their marketing, special materials we do not need, and we have limited promotional; material. So please, do try it and tell your fellow enthusiasts.

How Tacky Is lanolin rustproofing, and why is it important?

That old chestnut. A tacky coating by definition attracts dirt and debris. My number one issue with rustproofing is what i used to call "wet waxes". Wet waxes can seal, protect and do the job perfectly, but they are easy to penetrate, and have a constant layer of dirt and debris over them. Dirt and debris is full of moisture, and contamination. So you have an easy to penetrate coating, that is being invaded with a moisture laden contamination. The result is a vehicle underbody that is hard to maintain, not great to work on, and once perforated acts as a corrosion catalyst. When i formulated chassis guard most of my attention was starting from a plant base but MAKING it cure. otherwise i was wasting my time. I have seen actual advertising by one lanolin seller stating that the dirt attracted actually helps protect the lanolin coating. Think about that. if the dirt attracted is protecting the lanolin coating, Why not just use the dirt to protect the vehicle... well it wont but its wishful thinking.

What do i want from my lanolin coating?

You are essentially after maximum longevity at minimal cost. you are not after a best case, or a worst case. Law of averages says you will expect the average life of the coating. I place that at 9 months from what i have seen. As a result you want to pay the lowest amount you can, but have it so it cures fully, this will help it last longer. You also want it to be easy to topup. If it has a tack, its hard to topup effectively. Easy to remove, your plans may change, you may want it done "properley" with paint or colour code etc etc. Easy to remove is a key thing i believe you want.

I hope this guide helps, and remember to checkout other brands, their perspectives, and most importantly how true they are to the marketing.

This guide is written to reflect my opinion based on product experience with Buzzweld coatings, other lanolin coatings, as claims we the public often see through social media etc. The claims listed above are not from one company alone. the guide above is to be used as a guide and to help explain possible perspectives of each claim only.