Metal Finish for a Toxin Free Home (Camper Bus)

[LivinInnaVWBus]

Good afternoon guys and gals! I've posted in this section before but seldom got replies... lets see what happens this time around.
Currently, my bus is a rolling restoration which is a daily driver and I live out of it most of the summer/fall months as well. Once I finish the restoration, I will be living out of it full time again.
I am a huge proponent on healthy living, paying very close attention to what I put in and on my body, especially what I breath inside of my home. My bus is currently pending installation of all stainless steel cabinets and organic dye free fabric upholstery along with cork sheet insulation, but I'm stuck with how to seal the metal inside of the bus.
I've essentially given up on traditional methods using paint as I'm only able to find "low-VOC" products with ingredients I couldn't pronounce if I tried, I need VOC-Free products, preferably something made with all natural ingredients. Though I'm willing to consider other options(so please, chime in), at this point, I've narrowed it down to oils and waxes.
Linseed oil seems to come up often in similar topics as it was used for vehicle undercoating in the 20's, but it also could take weeks to dry and is combustible until that time as well.
It looks like Tung oil ( http://www.realmilkpaint.com/oil.html ) and this oil mix ( http://www.realmilkpaint.com/warmBlackWax.html ) may be some of the limited options I've got. I was also considering bees wax which has a melting point of above 160 degrees, but all I've read in regards to bees wax and metal usage is for cast iron. I'm also considering coconut oil which has a much lower melting point of around 80 degrees. I'd imagine the melting points could effect how much the oil impregnates the metal, but I'm just making assumptions.
Thoughts?

[raygreenwood]

Thats admirable....but outside of the usage of products that contain VOCs and the release of those VOCs into the atmosphere while applying (like paints).....you do realize that after application there are no VOCs left after the drying process. The remaining high flash point solvents that can keep a paint film "fingernail soft" for a couple of weeks past the inital application point do not meet the definition of VOC. Their flash point is too high.

Are you looking at paint film toxicity...or are you looking at VOC content? These are two totally different things. Not all classified VOCs have significant toxicity.
Not all toxic paint film ingredients are VOCs.

What you are looking for is technically an acrylic product. Most have very poor anti-rust and eeathering characteristics on metals....and all of them have some VOC content....which is part of the problem with surface corrosion because not all VOCs are solvents (take a look at ammonia which is a medium order VOC and corrosive in nature and present in most acrylics water soluable products).....and most of the acrylic paint products are very poor UV and weathering/fading resistance. ...unless you add metals and other additives.
Ray

[raygreenwood]

Some further information for you:

Pure Tung oil is useful only on wood. It is NOT a waterproofing agent as such. Its a conditioning agent. It has water resistant qualities only as long as oil remains in or on the surface. It evaporates over time. It needs to be stripped and reapplied on wood every few years. If you dont wait so long you can simply reapply every other year and get away with it for a decade or so.

Eventually the build-up of saturated oil wastes...usually paraffin will need to be stripped completely.

Tung oil that may have some limited use for metal will have a solvent...and most Tung oil finishes in general do....so beware. Most useful Tung oil finishes do have solvent...like this one
http://www.rustoleum.com/MSDS/ENGLISH/266634.PDF

It contains 35% stoddard solvent. This solvent allows the Tung oil to penetrate would finishes with tight grains and previous finishes without the need for stripping.
Stoddard solvent has a flash point of 105F so there will be no VOC's contained in the finish.

Having used Tung oil finishes I can tell you that the VOC free versions suck. They have no penetrating power. You will be reapplying them (to wood) virtually every year. Ask me how I know. Never again. Right stuff...wrong recipe.

Linseed oil....never dries completely. Tung oil does eventually dry...and when it does its worthless as that means the Chinatree oil that makes it work....is gone. Just not useful for metal in the long run. Its also easily dissolved by high PH solutions...read that as road salt.

Really...you would be far better served to have a professional undercoating or paint job done on the bus...regardless of the VOC content (which has nothing to do with health safety for you...because its 100% gone once the undercoating cures). Just do it at a place that is using a professional paint booth. Many large shops use an afterburner or a centrifugal solvent still. Both prevent the VOVs from exiting into the environment. At least that would be environmentally conscious.

There are very good reasons we use the chemicals we do these days. They work better than anything that came before them with less side effects.


Also....the warm/Black wax....worthless on metal. Virtually all waxes that are not actually polymers are terrible for metal. They actually promote rust due to PH differences primarily and the fact that they are easily permeated by water with chemicals in it. Again....thats a wood preservative product. Ray