Here is a tip how to treat rusty steel parts and a way to impregnate them. I use a bath with water and citric, approx 5cl/l of water. Use a tray of appropriate size and let the piece drown for some days, depending on how corroded the part is. Brush off the rust once a day until it is clean. Then dry it careful and smear it with some kind of anti corrosive paste. I use "never seez" a pure nickel paste with graphite that gives a smooth surface and also stand high temperature. Brush the steel with a toothbrush to fil all pores with the paste. Then polish with a soft cloth until all superflous paste is gone. I guarantee a satified result. Take a look here for example. Bo
Steel is not porous as Cast Iron is (and CI us only slightly porous) and impregnating it with corrosion barriers is not possible. A good coating, applied to a good anchor pattern on the surface, can do a good job. However, if applied over dirt and scale, the coating comes off when the dirt and scale does and must be re-applied. I find a double coat of wax is as good as most corrosion barriers. There is a newer class of Vapor Phase Corrosion Inhibitors that work well, too. Rem-Oil can be bought with VCI additives. The VCI's work best when used on parts in an enclosed environment and are the key ingredient in gun and tool storage bags.
