Can Preservation Questions

[jimw630]

As I go through cleaning and cataloguing my collection, I keep coming up with different questions on how best to preserve the cans I have. I have dug into the forums here which has some great advice and direction, but some areas I haven’t found much information or none at all. So, I thought I’d throw some of my questions here.

1. For rusty cans that won’t come any cleaner, has anyone ever used a rust converter product to then stabilize the rust. These are products that convert the rust from iron oxide to something like iron tennate. If so, how safe was it on paint, etc.

2. I have been noticing while cleaning my cans, some of the translucent white paints (and some other colors as well) on the early aluminum cans are degrading and can be rubbed off with too much, or too aggressive rubbing while cleaning. This has been especially evident in Pearl Brewing cans. Has anyone else noticed this? Is there a way to stabilize it from continuing or happening?

3. While I understand most here collect the older stuff, has anyone thought of the long term preservation of all of the craft beer cans being produced with sticker labels?