What To Do With Albums With Rusted Metallic Parts?

Hi all!

I just realised that the metallic parts (mainly the ends) of some of my Leuchtturm binders have rusted. Are they still good to use, or should I just dump them and get new ones? Would like to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

I would take all of the pages/protectors out of the binder(s) and if any sediment is present on them, would remove it from the protectors, and maybe discard any pages affected. If the rust only minimally affected the pages (around the edges/holes), may try to remove the sediment and cover the edges/holes with document repair tape (archival) to be "covered".

If the rusting/oxidization is generally as shown, for the binders, I would wipe the rust off, and then apply a very light rubbing of oil to the metal surface. I am not a chemist, but some might try a light application of a reducer (ala redox) to undo the iron oxidation.

Other opinions may vary. Ultimately do what you feel is safe and sufficiently protects your stamps/covers.

If the rust has occurred since you bought the binders you may have a high humidity problem. That is worse for the stamps than the binder. If the rust is due to your ambient conditions you should resolve that first.

I apply a "rust converter" liquid with a brush. It basically neutralizes the rust. Obviously, remove all the pages before you do this. Evaporust works well, but there are others. I also use a dehumidifier in my stamp room as overly high humidity may be causing this problem. I keep a "hygrometer" there, too, to tell me how high the humidity is. Good luck if you live in swampy places like Florida!

And, a bit gratuitously, I'll add one more thing -- this is one reason I don't use ring binders. Too much metal to damage delicate things like album pages and stamps. I prefer two post binders from Scott and Lighthouse. In fact rings near my stamps kind of scare me.