Hi Christine,

You can use something as basic as a mineral oil with cookware and other iron objects. Or, I have always had great fondness for CRC 3-36 penetrating oil (CRC Chemicals) - it is non-ionic and displaces rust and moisture and will dry to form a thin, protective film. I have used it as a pre-soak for especially rusted objects to penetrate and loosen the corrosion for a period of days or weeks before attempting to clean. I use it also to wet the iron surface so when I mechanically clean the corrosion it allows it to float away and it minmizes abrasion to the surce when using tools on the object. There are also plenty of other non-ionic oil products that can be useful - just don't use the ones with additives like teflon, etc. One caveat with oils. They will attract dust! So if you store your objects in a fairly dusty environment you will probably need to clean the oil after cleaning with a solvent like acetone. Again, with all chemical products including the oils) take appropriate safety precautions such as wearing nitrile or latex gloves, using adequate ventilation, no smoking or igition sources nearby, etc.
The last caveat - you need to understand the nature of the object/artifact and it's level of finish and you have to be extremely sensitive to the surface while you clean. A bright shiny cast iron pot after cleaning is a good example of an inappropriate surface, or if something has a stable oxidized patina you want to leave that alone. Don't attept to clean something with paint or gilding or other coatings invovled. It takes years and years of experience to develop this sort of sensitivity - so go slow and err on the conservative side of cleaning. If any doubt exisits call a concsevator and at least get an examination and consultation before attmepting it yourself. And do not bake your objects in the oven!

Cheers!
Dave

David Harvey
Artifacts
Denver, Colorado