Originally Posted by
ace
My experience has been that ANYTHING on a nicely polished blade attracts moisture more than the dry, highly polished steel does itself. Periodic inspecting and polishing is necessary. An easy experiment to try (although I don't recommend it) is to place a fingerprint on a highly polished blade, put it away in storage for a month or two and then get it out to look at it. The fingerprint will have either turned slightly brown, a sign of oxidation, or be actually rusted. Anything on a blade will attract water out of the ambient humidity and eventually create rust.