Keris exhibitions in Patani and Jogja

[David]

Originally Posted by Green

1)... for many of the collectors in this region they prefer to keep blades in rusty condition rather than overcleaning and abused of blades like what most of westerners seem to prefer... overcleaning is considered a big no no and devalue the item greatly.

From my limited experience and observation, they'd rather keep the blades un-cleaned and some even prefer it that way, though this sound a bit perverse... and even if they do the cleaning, it'd mostly be light cleaning with coconut water and/or lime with soft scraping with tooth brush followed by rinsing and drying with cloth.And some do an additional process of drying over smoke of incense...

You and i have had this discussion a few times before. I do try to understand regional differences in the maintenance of blades, but I do believe that what you are considering a Western practice of "over-cleaning" is actually a rather traditional Javanese preference for regular cleaning and staining of blades. A rusty blade is generally not tolerated in that culture and would probably be considered disrespectful to the spirit of the blade.
That said, i do understand that the Malay preference is generally not to stain with warangan. However, rust on a blade, aside from being ugly from my own perspective, is undoubtably seriously destructive and, IMHO, abusive to the keris itself. I can assure you that this is an attitude that is not reserved merely for the Western collector.