What is the best thing to use to prevent rust after i clean and degrease this stuff?
I work where it's humid 75% of the year, but my shop is air conditioned (controls humidity) and I don't have airborne salt particles to deal with. So what I use may not be adequate for you.
For very light, almost non-oily, protection, (and also a light-duty cleaner) I use LPS #1. Starrett M1 would probably be equivalent, as well as some gun oils. Don't even think about using this outdoors, it's not nearly enough.
For a long-lasting, durable coating, easily removed, I use LPS #3 which dries to a waxy finish. This stuff is OK for limited outdoor use, and effectively unlimited indoor use.
In between those two points, I will use way oil (tends to stay put) or ordinary machine oil, applied freely and the excess wiped off. But in a humidity controlled environment, I find that most
clean metal will not rust. If you let crud build up, that tends to trap moisture near the surface. For non-operating surfaces, paint works very well to prevent rust! And for many operating surfaces, the normal lubrication does a good job.
I frequently wipe stuff down with strong (90%+) isopropyl alchohol, which I can buy at the local hardware store, before putting it away. This both cleans and dries. In fact, when I get a new batch of really filthy used tooling, it spends time in the ultrasonic cleaner in a water-based solution of either Simple Green or an industrial alkaline detergent. The bath turns murky opaque pretty quick, so when the parts come out they get rinsed and maybe hand scrubbed in spots in more water-based cleaner. Then I dunk them in IPA (rubbing alchohol, not India Pale Ale), to both rinse a second time and remove the water from the previous rinse/bath. After that, I may apply LPS #1, or not, depending on what it is.
BTW, the LPS products are much less expensive if you buy a gallon of the liquid instead of a spray can. And there are Boeshield products (cannot recall the numbers) which are roughly equivalent to both LPS #1 and #3.
