In my first presentation I have been too ANAL and may have lost a lot of you.In my second effort I will try to be more down to earth in my explanation of lead rot and were it comes from.The prime agent of lead rot (actually lead carbonate) appears to be acetic acid emanating from the cabinets used to store the figures. Note that the power is not a substance covering the lead, it has actually replaced the lead. Thus, removal at the first signs is essential to prevent the figure crumbling in a pile of grey power. The major producers of acetic acid is Hardwoods. These unseasoned oak, ( Red and White), plywood and chipboard,teak,bass,sweet chestnut,fire-proofed woods, and rot protected woods. Moderately harmful woods include seasoned oak, larch, ash, birch, beech and red cedar. Least harmful are the softer woods including stika spruce, douglas fir, pine, honduras, african mahogany, elm, ramin and obeche. The best means of protecting our soldiers is to use an acid-impervious coating on our cabinets.Unfortunately no product has been found that fully seals the acid in,although two part epoxy and urethane paints offer the best protection.Sheet of melamine does not release acid and may serve as a suitable substitute.Even here the adhesives may have some adverse effect.Shellac offers no protection at all and should not be used. The GOOD NEWS the new toy soldiers are not made of lead and the new alloys have no aversion to Lead Rot.The single most important element is to provide your cabinets with plenty of ventilation at least complete air circulation twice a day. I use bags of SILICA to keep the moisture down and can be purchase in most office outlets.If the cabinet are air tight you might want to drill a one inch diameter hole in the case and  keep the cabinet out of the direct sun. One of the many experts Mr. Wegner suggest that you merely brush the figures off with a soft bristled brush. Remember there is a health hazard if you breath in the power. I hope this is too the point and something you can use with out the chemical equations of my First Presentation 

MT FIRST PRESENTATION ON LEAD ROT!

In this discussion we must first agree on what Lead Rot is and what make up the white powder it produces to destroy our famous lead toy soldiers.Lead Rot is lead rusting and its primary cause is moisture in combination with lack of air circulation. The rusting action is oxidation as it is with all metals.The culprit is oxygen and the delievery system in the moisture and or uncirculated air.The white power produced is Lead carbonate Hydroxide-Pb3 (CO3) (OH2)-other wise known as Hydrocer-rusite.(Report,August 18,1993:Conservation Analytical Laboratory,Smithsonian Institute, Washington,D.C. on affected  ASKB collection figures. When buying through auctions or private dealers you must be cognitive about what you are looking at and if there is a white power present.Museum collection can have this problem with the consistent change of temperature from winter through summer. Once you have the soldier in your hand it is unmistakable not to detect as parts of the figure are  just gone.Care must be taken for this power is poisonous.The power is not soluble in water but is in various acids as are the soldiers.Depending on the age of the Toy Soldier sets and the value that they have you might decide to retard the process. Captain Bert Caldwell a noted expert determined that all that was necessary was to seal the figures from the causes of the oxidation process.No oxygen,no rust and corrosion.It was decided that lacquering each figure was too serve. If you ever decided to remove the lacquer you would destroy the rest of the paint. Captain Caldwell came up with a much simpler method using a soft brush cleaning the figure to remove the power and the affective parts and then treating with a solution of 50% pure gum spirits of turpentine and 50% medicinal mineral oil. The two are added together and shaken hard and applied with a swab.Badly affected pieces may be immersed in the solution to coat the insides of the hollow cast figures. Then they should be patted dry with a soft cloth then allowed to air dry for a least a week before putting them back in their boxes. This 50/50 solution of turpentine and mineral oil aids in the cleaning process,thins out the mineral oil for good penetration and surface coating. Depending when you start treating the lead rot you may have a section like on horses were it starts on the rear end and leaves holes just as rust on an old car. Same principle.Do not store you collection in Oak Cabinets because this lend itself to lead rot.Place SILICA bags in your display cabinets to absorbed moisture. Keep from direct sunlight.This treatment has been know to work for 4-6 years. The condition affecting the Soldiers it is not contagious just the environment. This is just one part of Collecting Lead Toy Soldiers and a serious one to look out for.Captain Bert Caldwell is the current Chairman of the committee of management of the Anne SK Military Collection at Brown University, Providence, R.I. U.S.A.