I’ve been told that lye (an ingredient in Drano) is the thing to use. And apparently you can buy it in raw form from a good hardware store.

That’s a nice case, btw, with the brass corners. You know about this?
http://typophile.com/node/28118

hhp

It’s not rust, it’s lead oxide... Also known as “Type Lice” :-)
I’ve heard that lye will take this off, as Hrant said, but check around on Google, there’s been discussion of this on the Letterpress lists over the years.

PF

http://typeandmeaning.com
semiotx.com - Galena, Illinois

Lye does work but it’s necessary to rinse the type thoroughly to remove all traces of the lye salts. If not the type will develop a white powdery bloom. I find it best after rinsing and rinsing, to then brush each letter with a tooth brush and something oily like kerosene or coal oil. This keeps the type from growing any more oxide.

Jim

Won’t the oil end up repelling the ink during printing?

hhp

Hrant

I was referring to keeping the type in good shape for the long haul. You are right; if one tries to print immdiately after washing the type with kerosene or coal oil, the ink won’t transfer from the roller to the type.

If the type has been stored for some time the residue will have evaporated; there will be no trace of it and and type will ink again.

Leaving the oily solvent on the type does prevent it from developing “type rust” (oxides) even after long periods.

Jim

> I was referring to keeping the type in good shape for the long haul.

Oh, got it.

hhp

Thanks very much guys, this is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. Now to go out and buy some lye...

Hrant, the brass cornered case came from a fleamarket in Amsterdam (for a lot less than US$105). I didn’t know about you and Gerald coming up with the type table; bloody good idea. I hope you make and sell lots of ’em.

Ben

Lead can’t rust, so I don’t know what the coloration is in your pic. But it does look like you do have some oxidation going on there as well. This is bad. Lead oxide. White lead. This is what causes lead poisoning. Also a great ingrediant in ink—rich long lasting blacks (Gutenberg, and apparently he alone, used it). This corrosion is usually caused by a reaction of some sort combining humidity and acid. Dampness in the case (reaction with the wood lignum), salt water, urine (yes), cigarette ash (oddly enough, it eats holes in the lead), and probably others.

You want to get rid of this. I don’t know how effective lye is against this so much as it was used to clean ink from type in the old days. I usually recommend scrapping the type out as it is at this point hazardess.

The type lice referral in the earlier post is actually the lye itself not the oxide. Long story (and printer’s tale) but printer’s devils (young boys) responsible for cleaning the type would sprinkle the lye into the case (as a prank). When the compositors would set the type the lye would cause them to sneeze.

Gerald

I think you aught to keep your type after you treat it but don’t do anything until you fully understand the toxic potential of what you have, what you will use to save it & the by-products of what you make. Poison sucks. BIG TIME. Plus lead does clearly make humans more & more stupid. Look it up - it’s unambiguous!

Eben’s right, Sodium Hydroxide (Lye also includes Potassium Hydroxide) can be used to dispose of bodies of diseased farm animals, be very careful and find out how New Zealand requires you to dispose of it.
Tim

Thank you all very much for the detailed warnings. I thought I’d been getting more stupid lately, but I couldn’t figure out why...

Will stop licking the type, get some local regs for hazard disposal and proceed with caution : )

Ben

Just a further note of caution. Particles of the lead oxide are now in the case itself.

Gerald

When I visited St. Brides 10 years ago, they were using bees wax which is safe and biodegradable.

I use bees wax when casting type on the Thompson Caster. It makes a great mold lubricant and gives the type a pleasant smelling protective coating. It’s not possible to melt beeswax candle into the mold of the other two (Monotype) casters, but the Thompson mold is very accessible, and a thin bees wax taper works well.

Jim

I came across this thread when searching for a way to clean old metal type. This has really been the only useful source of info I’ve found so far. Oddly, I just listened to Tiffany Wardle’s interview with TypeRadio last night and she said her favourite word was “serendipity” so it’s quite serendipitous that the answer to my question was to be found on Typophile the very next day when I planned to sign-up. Hmm...anyway.

I’ve got a small box of metal type my friend salvaged from the print shop his family used to run. It’s filthy and I’d like to clean it so I can display it somehow but I don’t know how and I’m not exactly liking the idea of getting some lye to clean it with. The two previous posts said beeswax can be used to clean metal type but how exactly is that done?

I think they were saying that bee’s wax was good to preserve the type. Getting it clean would be a separate step. I am not saying this *is* a good idea but I wonder about silver polish. The idea behind this I understand it is that it aggressively bonds with the oxygen leaving the metal intact. I would research the idea further before I tried it. And maybe see what else folks here say.

Oh, right. That would make more sense. As for silver polish, I suppose I could try that. I’ll definitely ask around first. Thanks for the tip.

That “oxide” actually looks like rust, but lead does not rust. Perhaps the colouration was transferred from very wet metal galley.

By the way, lye is not as readily available as one might think. It was until recently. Ask a local soapmaker, they have difficulty getting lye. The stuff sold in hardware stores usually are “now” substitute chemicals.

Lead oxide should be viewed as electrolysis. This happens when metals of different nobilities are in direct contact. This activity can readily happen between type metal and metal gallies.

Zinc is so low in nobility it is used as sacrificial metal to preserve the fastenings and propellers on boats. This is why metal galley cabinets should have zinc between the cabinet and the floor and inspected annually. If it turns white, which it will, replace it.

That said I never suffered from lead oxide deterioration.