Question about tail rust?

[Shy Violet]

Today I received my Baby Up Up and Away ♥ however she had tail rust. I cleaned her out and cleaned the rust out of her tail but what about inside the clamp? Should I be opening it up? Putting her tail back in with a zip tie? Or is it ok to put her tail back in as is? I can't see anymore rust, I scrubbed all around the clamp and don't see anymore rust when I part the hairs. Thanks!

[Eldarwen]

I would leave her tail as it is. Im sure people have different opinions about this, but if you were able to make her rust free, she should be fine.

I always just make sure the clamp is rust free, if it is, then I leave it that way. My ponies are going to be just in my collection, so no one is going to be pulling their tails or giving them baths anytime soon. 

[SeashellnBubbles]

I try to leave the original clmp on if I can. There's only been one incident where it just HAD to be removed and that was because of the extent of rust permeation into the hairs themselves. I didn't want it bleeding again, so I took it off and robbed the clamp from a donor tail to replace it!

[Shy Violet]

Ok thanks for the opinions, I think I'll leave it as is. I'm pretty sure it was the washer that was rusting and not the clamp now that I think about it more. The clamp itself wasn't rusty, just the hair and the washer.

[Sugar]

First of all, congrats on Baby Up Up and Away!  Cute pony addition to your collection.

As for tail clamps, I'm the (avowedly) odd duck that removes them as well as the washers.  Though the washers seem to be more prone to rust, I recently removed the tail from a rattly Peachy - her washer had fallen off at some point, I imagine, and it was fine... but the clamp was rusted and the portion of her tail that's inside the clamp was saturated with rust. *sigh*  She's not the first one I've seen in that shape, and though it does tend to be the exception rather than the rule... I just prefer to avoid the whole problem and rely on zipties instead of metal fixtures.   (But that's just me.  The general consensus as I understand it is that the more original the pony, the better it keeps its value. )

[himmie]

If the clamp does not look rusty, I would leave it on. I definitely recommended leaving the tail out for quite a while though, to make sure it is COMPLETELY dry before going back in.

[NovelNerd]

I'm another one of those other people that tends to remove the washer and tail clamp. I've noticed with a lot of mine if the tail was really rusty it was super rusty under the clamp. I guess it depends on how much you want to keep the clamp on.

[PinkRosedust]

I never remove the clamp...because I can't! I have tried a couple times and dang, those things are tight! (And if anyone has some special tip that I don't know about, feel free to toss it my way) But I have found that 99% of the time it's the washer that's rusty, and the clamp has very little to no rusting. Weird.

Personally I don't think it's a big deal, even if there is a little rust left on the clamp. I don't see how it would hurt anything.

[Rachel-Eyes]

When I was new to the hobby, I would remove it just to be 100% sure that the Pony was rust-free. I always had difficulty getting it off though and have accidentally cut through some of the hairs with my pliers. I don't want to deal with that anymore, so I just keep them on and make sure that the tail is clean (and let it dry for 24 hours) before sticking it back inside.

I do remove the washer though, even when there appears to be no problem with it. It's just a way to help prevent a problem, I think, and I know many collectors will disagree with me on that, but it's my personal decision. We all have our own ideas about what's best for our Ponies, and that's just what I choose to do with mine.

[hathorcat]

I think you have to do it on a case by case basis to be honest and judge it on whether or not the clamp is the source of the problem. If there is any rust on the clamp then I would remove it mainly as though you could have scrubbed it beautifully outside, there will most likely be rust on the inside. If there is nothing on the clamp then I would leave it on. But that being said you will now have the clamp completely wet and the hair inside the clamp damp - rust is probably going to come at some point due to this so I would make sure if you dont take the clamp off to monitor it closely.

PinkRosedust - the only way I can ever get a clamp of is needle nose pliers [and my strong little brother ]