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Help! Disney Pin Corrosion!

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Help! Disney Pin Corrosion!
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foxpaws

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I am new here, and I need some help!

Back in 2009 we went to Disney World, and as souviners, we bought lanyard pins and traded them our whole trip. It was a lot of fun!

Anyways, I have kept my pins on their lanyard and just hung it up in our house on display. I recently looked closely at my pins again, and two of them show signs of corrosion! :cry:

One is a 2008 pin that is from Animal Kingdom - it is a rectangular one that depicts Nemo on a blue background with the words "Disney * Pixar presents Finding Nemo the Musical." This one has some sort of green corrosion on the back that has begun to creep around to the side (although the sides aren't too bad yet).

The other is the 2009 annual pin that is the large numbers "09" and has Nemo and Buzz Lighyear on it. This pin worries me - it has a lot of dark brown rust on the back surrounding the areas where the actual pin posts are, and creeping away from there.

Any help anyone can give me about how to clean and then preserve these two pins would be greatly appreciated! We live in Ohio, so it's not unusually humid or anything here, and out of my lanyard-full of pins, these are the only two that are having problems.

Help! What do I do?! :anxious:

Thanks!
 
I have had some problems with a couple of my pins. I have the same issues as you. I really want to take care of them and it scares me that I have that rust stuff on it.
 
Corrosion is due to the exposure to oxygen and CO2. In order to stop corrosion you need to keep these elements out.
A light coating of wax can achieve this as it creats a barrier from the elements.

Mechanics would coat it in oil or WD40, again sheilding the elements from getting to the metal.
Corrosion that has already occured can only be removed which mean comprimising the integrity of the pin so I would leave it alone.

Moisture is another issue and again you need to sheild it from these elements.

You can also wipe your pins with a polishing cloth on a regular basis removing the iron oxide and preventing the process.
Here is an actual defininition of what is happening just so you know.

­R­ust is the common name for a very common compound, iron oxide. Iron oxide, the chemical Fe[SUB]2[/SUB]O[SUB]3[/SUB], is common because iron combines very readily with oxygen -- so readily, in fact, that pure iron is only rarely found in nature. Iron (or steel) rusting is an example of corrosion -- an electrochemical process involving an anode (a piece of metal that readily gives up electrons) THIS COULD BE ONE OF YOUR OTHER PINS, an electrolyte (a liquid that helps electrons move)THIS IS MOISTURE IN THE AIR OR HUMIDITY and a cathode (a piece of metal that readily accepts electrons) YOUR PIN OF COURSE . When a piece of metal corrodes, the electrolyte helps provide oxygen to the anode. As oxygen combines with the metal, electrons are liberated. When they flow through the electrolyte to the cathode, the metal of the anode disappears, swept away by the electrical flow or converted into metal cations in a form such as rust.
 
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I know what rust is, and how it is caused, but what I didn't know was that the pins would/could rust! I am so bummed out about this. I pulled the rest of my pins off my lanyard and the ones off of my daughter's lanyard as well, and I found a few more with tiny areas of rust beginning. I wiped them all down with WD40 in an attempt to quell the process, and am now looking for a better way to display them.

So I have two follow-up questions:

1) Did I cause them to rust? We traded pins our whole trip, then packed the pins away on their lanyards for the trip home. Once home, we took the intact lanyards and just hung them on the wall. Should I have taken the pins off and washed and dried everything before doing this?

2) Where do some of you folks get your pin display boxes. What do you recommend. I'm looking for ideas here folks so that I can display, yet save, my pin collection. (I'm not it in for the monetary value... my set tells the story of our trip - where we stayed, our favorite rides, characters we met, etc... this has personal meaning to me).

Thanks for the ideas, advice and input!
 
Just having the pins on display, exposed to everyday elements can cause them to oxidise over time. Keeping them in pin bags (not ideal) will help.
 
Will placing a pin on a Disney Backer Card that is Plastic & Felt/Velvet middle and then wrapping it in Bubble Wrap help protect the pins from any metal corrosion, etc.? I'm a beginner pin enthusiast..
 
My daughters pins are displayed on cork boards in their bedroom on a wall that is nearest to the bathroom. I'm now thinking this is not the best place for them with moisture (steam) from the shower or bath. Will have to make sure they keep their bedroom and the bathroom doors closed. Will also have to get them to polish them from time to time.
 
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