The original Cosmoline was an ointment and was used for many different cosmetic and medical purposes, including to promote hair growth.
During World War II cosmoline was used to coat weapons, including entire tanks, for long sea voyages, to prevent corrosion in salty maritime conditions.
[citation needed] U.S. Coast Artillerymen serving the huge coastal artillery batteries were known as "Cosmoliners" as they were regularly assigned the task of "greasing down" their big guns.
Historical fiction author W. E. B. Griffin, in his 1986 novel Semper Fi, describes in great detail the difficulties that cosmoline removal presented to a typical group of U.S. Marine Corps officer candidates in the months leading up to U.S. involvement in World War II.
Freshly applied cosmoline, or that which is hermetically sealed in a plastic bag or shrink wrap, retains its grease-like viscosity and wipes near clean with a rag, leaving only a thin film behind.
Older cosmoline which has had air exposure usually solidifies after a few years, once its volatile hydrocarbon fraction evaporates and leaves behind only the waxy remainder.
High pressure compressed air with solid CO2 particles is directed to any area to be cleaned until removed.
[8] Soldiers in field conditions have often used gasoline or another handy petroleum-based solvent (such as kerosene) to clean cosmoline off stored weapons.