Many metal articles have to be transported and stored, sometimes for long periods, and are then used with their working surfaces in the bare state. Unless these surfaces are protected between manufacture and use, most of them will rust and corrode because of the effect of humidity or atmospheric pollution. The materials used for such protection are called temporary protectives as they provide protection primarily for the transportation and storage period. The significance of the term temporary does not lie in the duration of the efficacy of the protective, but in the fact that it can easily be removed, so that the protected surfaces, can if necessary, be restored to their original state. They provide a water- and oxygen-resistant barrier as a result of their blanketing effect and/or because of the presence of naturally occurring or added inhibitors which form an adsorbed layer on the metal surface.