03-04-2012, 05:55 PM
Tri flow has got to be the stinkiest stuff imaginable. I don't like using it on things I touch, or have in the house. LPS-3 seems to have a clogging problem with their spray dispensers, but it's a good product for steel things that need to be coated for outdoors that won't be handled. I use beeswax routinely for bolts, tools and other steel items I want to last. I melt it in a can partially submerged in water in a pot on the stove, put bolts and stuff in it long enough for the metal items to get hot enough that most of the wax flows off when the items are lifted out of the can. Be cautious though, I think it could ignite if exposed directly to burners or open flame. I also heat things with a heat gun and rub wax on them. It flows onto the surface when metal is warm. Beeswax is a bit tacky when cool, but not noxious and lasts a long time. Unlike paint, it "heals" to a degree like LPS-3 when it contacts hard objects after drying. I often precede the wax process with Ospho on some things. I use vaseline on edge tools and other steel things I don't want to use beeswax on, it's odorless and presumably not too toxic since people have been using it on skin for ages.