Metals

Throughout history, metals have been widely used for functional and decorative objects, such as tools, weapons, jewellery, sculptures, coins and medals. Metal objects need proper care to prevent or minimize corrosion and other types of damage. The following resources provide information and advice on how to care for them.

Preventive conservation guidelines for collections

• Caring for metal objects
• Caring for vehicles

Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes

• N1/6 Time Capsules (1995)
• N1/8 Lead in Museum Collections and Heritage Buildings (2010)
• N4/1 Identifying Archaeological Metal (2007)
• N9/1 Recognizing Active Corrosion (2007)
• N9/2 Storage of Metals (2007)
• N9/3 The Cleaning, Polishing, and Protective Waxing of Brass and Copper (2007)
• N9/4 Basic Care of Coins, Medals and Medallic Art (2007)
• N9/5 Tannic Acid Coating for Rusted Iron Artifacts (2013) – formally published under the title Tannic Acid Treatment
• N9/6 Care and Cleaning of Iron (2007)
• N9/7 Silver – Care and Tarnish Removal (2007)
• N9/8 Mechanical Removal of Rust from Machined Ferrous Surfaces (2007)
• N9/9 Care of Objects Made of Zinc (2007)
• N9/10 How to Determine Metal Density (2016)
• N9/11 How to Make and Use a Precipitated Calcium Carbonate Silver Polish (2016)
• N9/13 Preventing and Treating the Dezincification of Brass (2019)
• N10/14 Care of Paintings on Ivory, Metal, and Glass (2015)
• N17/3 How to Test for Copper and Lead (2016)
• N17/4 How to Test for Iron and Nickel (2016)
• N17/6 How to Test for Gold and Tin (2019)

Technical Bulletins

• TB 4 The Care of Musical Instruments in Canadian Collections (1982)
• TB 16 Care and Preservation of Firearms (1995)
• TB 17 Threaded Fasteners in Metal Artifacts (1997)

Other CCI resources on this topic

• Basic care – Recognizing metals and their corrosion products
• Metals and Corrosion: A Handbook for the Conservation Professional
• Understanding flash rusting
• Understanding how silver objects tarnish

Related CCI resources

• Agents of deterioration
• Basic requirements of preventive conservation
• Handling heritage objects
• Video – Time-lapse Video of Deterioration: Two Iron Keys, Incorrect Relative Humidity and Pollutants

External links

• Caring for Silver and Copper Alloy Objects (PDF format) (Conserve O Gram 10/2, 1999)
• Caring for Outdoor Bronze Plaques, Part I: Documentation and Inspection (PDF format) (Conserve O Gram 10/4, 2005)
• Caring for Outdoor Bronze Plaques, Part II: Cleaning and Waxing (PDF format) (Conserve O Gram 10/5, 2005)