Yes, I have a humidity issue in my workshop too and I've been doing the same with machinery but it was the recent purchase of some planes that made me think of oil cloths. One plane came in a polythene bag which appeared to have had oil squirted inside, which seems a common practice. The other came wrapped in a sheet of oiled - or maybe waxed - paper which required far less cleaning of the tool prior to use. Some seem more prone to rusting than others e.g, Axminster lathe accessories rust, Record Power accessories don't but lathe bed does.
I have sheets of ?waxed? paper I use. Corotex is the brand.
I believe manufacturers do extensive research to find the steel alloy that's the most susceptible to rust, then use that. Why? Who knows?
I wipe over metal surfaces with an oily rag that has been impregnated with 3-in-1 oil, it has anti rust properties and gives better protection than using engine oil.
Isn't linoleum vinyl flooring?
I don't think so (I may stand corrected). "Oil cloth" was the local name - guess it was made from an oil byproduct, soaked into a hessian?
No, we had it patterned, looking similar to vinyl but a precursor? It wasn't 'wet' in any way.
Talking about two different things. Linoleum, as per link, was a form of vinyl flooring, supplied by the roll rather than in tile form. It was a brand name, like Hoover, often used to include similar products and no, it wasn't meant to be wet unless something was spilled on it. And NOT what I was asking about. From farmers to cowboys, implements to firearms, were protected by an oil - or oiled - cloth. My grandad kept his tools outdoors, all year round, in a wooden chest, with certain items - and I remember his tenon saw being one of them - kept wrapped in a cloth. I guess the oil repelled water as much as it protected metal.
Ah, ubiquitous linseed, should have thought about that. I too thought the Web would have the answer but nothing sounded quite right.
The vary last thing I'd use would be linseed oil. I thought the fire hazards were well known. When linseed oil dries, it oxidises and polymerises, which is an exothermic reaction. It's not an issue when say used on flat surfaces such as garden furniture, but it is on 'scrunched up' oily rags, which can spontaneously self-combust:
