Preventing Rust With Camphor

Have trouble preventing your tools from rusting, even when you keep them in a tool box, protected from excess moisture? Turns out that just a little bit of humidity in the air inside an enclosed space will condense on your tools and start turning iron into iron oxide. Fortunately, there’s an old machinist’s trick that will keep your stuff bright and shiny.

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Iron and steel tools often rust when stored in enclosed spaces. You would think they would be protected from moisture, but it finds them in the form of humidity – water molecules in the air. The warmer the air, the more water vapor it will hold. If this warm air cools, some of the water will condense on the solid surfaces nearby. If it condenses on your tools, the water initiates a chemical reaction called oxidation, causing iron atoms on the surface of the tool to combine with oxygen in the air and create iron oxide (Fe2O3), i.e. rust.

The best way to stop oxidation is to keep moisture from reaching the tool in the first place. Craftsmen often apply paste wax, spray them with VCI (volatile corrosion inhibitor) compounds, or wipe their tools with oily rags. In all cases, these actions coat the tool’s surface with a substance that repels water. But they also require some effort and attention from the craftsmen.

Camphor does this for you without having to wipe or wax anything. Camphor is a natural oil distilled from the leaves and bark of the camphor laurel (Cinnamomum camphora), a shrub native to eastern Asia. It’s extracted with steam, and when the oil cools, it crystallizes. Then it’s compressed into cakes and tablets. But these crystals remain highly volatile and evaporate easily. Camphor fumes will fill a drawer, cabinet, or toolbox, then condense on the surfaces of the tools, coating them with a film just a few molecules thick. And because this film is an oil, it repels moisture and keeps your tools from rusting.

Camphor has other uses, of course. Its pungent odor repels insects – it’s often made into mothballs. It’s useful for aroma therapy, the treatment of insect bites and cold sores, and may relieve pain and itching. (Topical treatments only! It’s mildly toxic and shouldn’t be ingested.) Camphor is also used in some Hindi and Islamic religious rites.

Many viewers have asked if it can also be used to protect firearms. Yes, it can. It does not react with any common metal or alloy, and can be easily removed with a mild solvent if needed. In addition to preventing rust, it will also slow the tarnishing of brass, bronze, aluminum, and silver. However, it is NOT recommended if your rifles have optical sights. The camphor fumes are so invasive they may get inside the optics and cloud the lenses. Same holds for camera equipment. You might also want to avoid camphor if you have older firearms with plastic parts. Pre-1920s, camphor was commonly used as a plasticizer in celluloid castings. The vapor may soften the older plastic items.

Other viewers have asked about or mentioned silica gel and other desiccants which absorb moisture from the air. These work well in climates where the humidity is medium to low. And they will protect against humidity spikes in wetter times. But they are quickly overwhelmed if the humidity remains high for a long time. Furthermore, most dessicants need to be dried in an oven or a microwave for time to time as they become saturated. Camphor, wax, oil and other VCI's coat the tools and repel moisture no matter what the humidity.

Still more viewers ask about sacrificial anodes. These are bits of metal such as magnesium, zinc, or aluminum (+) that are attached to iron or steel, which becomes a electrical cathode (-). To rust, the iron must loose electrons as it forms Fe2O3 (iron oxide). If it is electrically connected to a magnesium anode, the magnesium is more prone to corrode. As it does so, it contributes electrons to the iron, preventing the iron from corroding. Works pretty well, especially in an electrically conductive medium such as water. But it will also work reasonably well on dry land as long as the anode and the cathode are well connected. Many bridges and other iron structures are protected from rusting by having sacrificial anodes welded to them. Trouble is, it has to a good connection -- just hanging an iron tool on a magnesium bar won't do it. As the magnesium corrodes, the electrical connection degrades. Tossing a few tabs of camphor in my toolbox once or twice a year seems a lot easier than spot-welding bits of magnesium to all my tools.


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Hi. I'm just here to say that my father has done this for decades and it works flawlessly.

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