How to prevent metal eyelets from rusting?
I have these hiking shoes that have metal hook type of eyelets. Since I frequently go to the leech infested areas of the western ghats in India, I'm forced to use salt on my shoes to prevent leeches from climbing onto me (and it works pretty well). But due to salt, the metal hooks seem to be rusting.
Is there a way I can prevent the rust while still exposing the hooks to salt? This post talks about using oil as a possible solution to prevent rusting. But obviously with shoes it would be impossible to do. I'm thinking if there is a chemical coating that could help me with this.
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I think the simplest solution would be to wear ankle-high gaiters and salt the gaiters instead of your boots. This way you will get even added protection from the gaiter, and spare your expensive boot from the inevitable abuses of applying chemical treatments.
You could also try using anti-leech socks.
Oil treatments are designed to displace salt, which is the opposite of what you want, you want the salt there to deter the leeches, treating you boots with oil would prevent the salt from sticking (even if you spot treat your boots, it may drip or bleed).
The best thing you could do for boots if you're treating them with salt, is clean the salt off your boots after your hike. In Canada we use a lot of salt on the roads to eliminate ice, this salt ends up on your vehicle, and if you don't clean your vehicle regularly, the salt eats away at your fenders and undercarriage like crazy. Regularly cleaning the salt off denies the salt the opportunity to start a chemical reaction.
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Wash the eyelets with soap and water (tooth brush) follow with a solution of TSP. (tri-sodium phosphate)
Let dry.
Apply zinc chromate primer with small brush or Q-tip (cotton swap on a stick)
Let dry.
2 coats of Water based polyurethane varnish. Renew every 30 days of wearing.
Note: Use care with the ZnCr2O5 paint -- it's BRIGHT yellow, and errors in application will look, well, odd.
Zinc chromate is a general purpose metal primer. Chromium is highly toxic (as bad as lead) so it's harder to find. It isn't not strong. It acts as a binder chemically bonding to metal.
Failing this, mix up a batch of epoxy. Thin with a drop or two acetone, and carefully coat the cleaned metal with that.
Or, next pair of boots get ones with plastic eyelets.
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When I bought my first pair of walking boots, I was told to buy a jar of vaseline and use that on the hooks of the boots.
You can apply it very precisely and it is very likely not to run off and spread over the boot. (Not sure how it reacts when it gets hot.)
This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/19019. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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