Cleaning tokens?

[bioart]

Hi All,

I bought some used tokens, and I'm not sure how to clean them... they are brass, but very dirty (some are silver color also)... any ideas?  I tried oxyclean and it seemed to work, but only a little bit... there's clearly I lot more I could do to clean them.  I'm sure a sonicator would work, but those are hard to come by

Thanks

Art

[Tailgunner]

Hi All,

I bought some used tokens, and I'm not sure how to clean them... they are brass, but very dirty (some are silver color also)... any ideas?  I tried oxyclean and it seemed to work, but only a little bit... there's clearly I lot more I could do to clean them.  I'm sure a sonicator would work, but those are hard to come by

Thanks

Art

A case tumbler would do the trick. Know anyone who reloads ammunition?

[GameDork]

Hot Sauce Works!!

[sadistic midget]

Kaboom.  Cleans coins like a charm it should work on tokens.

[abrannan]

Kaboom.  Cleans coins like a charm it should work on tokens.

I'll vouch for that one.  And since I've got the same tokens as you, Bio, you can count on it.  Spray it on and let it sit for about 20-30 seconds and they shine right up.

[Chris]

Kaboom.  Cleans coins like a charm it should work on tokens.

I'll vouch for that one.  And since I've got the same tokens as you, Bio, you can count on it.  Spray it on and let it sit for about 20-30 seconds and they shine right up.

Careful where you use that stuff, though... I hear that it will eat right through laminate countertops.... don't use it near the cab!

[rdagger]

Hot Sauce Works!!

Just go into Taco Bell and get some of their hot sauce free.  Works good on pennys too.

[Apollo]

I rub gravy on mine and get my dog to eat them when they come out they are all nice and shiny ( after I've washed them of course ).

[EndTwist]

Damn that is disgusting  

Try some baking soda and vinegar too, may work.

[rchadd]

coca-cola

[rampy]

coca-cola

fwiw I've heard (but haven't tried) the coca-cola trick...

of course the fact that it somehow cleans coins (corrosive?) unsettles my stomach...

rampy

[monkeybomb]

Most jewelry and metal cleaning products are acid based.  I used two limes two clean a huge brass bucket.  My guess is that any citrus fruit would work just as well.

[Yander]

I have used ketchup and coca cola they both work. Let them sit in some Cola for a week and thet will probably be pretty good.

[Blakey]

fwiw I've heard (but haven't tried) the coca-cola trick...

of course the fact that it somehow cleans coins (corrosive?) unsettles my stomach...

rampy

Any cleaning method is going to remove material. It's the oxidised metal that makes them look tarnished. Mechanical cleaning will remove it, but if you're too enthusiastic you may remove too much freshly exposed metal. Chemical cleaning will remove the oxide, and may continue to remove fresh metal if left for too long.

The only other method is to use electrolysis and reverse the corrosion reaction, but this isn't feasible.

Use chemicals (mild acid, Coke = phosphoric & carbonic, vinegar = acetic), don't leave it for too long.

[quarterback]

I picked up a lot of about 300 miscellaneous tokens which are all rather dirty and I'd like to clean them up.

There are a bunch of suggestions in this thread so before I go covering my coins with: coke, vinegar, hot sauce, kaboom, lime juice, baking soda, gravy and/or oxyclean, I wanted to see if there was any kind on consensus on what a quick, easy way is to clean these.   For example, a week in coca-cola isn't really what I'm looking for.  Something that takes under an hour would be nice.

Any definitive suggestions or do I have to just start at the top of the list and work my way through the fridge?

[quarterback]

Well, I tried both lime juice and hot sauce (my curiousity got the best of me).

Both worked.. kinda.  The coins are cleaner, but aren't shiny.   

I left the first two bunches in for about 7minutes, and thought that maybe that was too long (since Blakey made a point that they shouldn't be left in "too long") so the next two went in for only 2 minutes.  Meh, they're okay.  They're all definitely 'cleaner' but none are shiny and there are still blemishes, dirt and oxidation on them.

[Stingray]

Next chance I get, I'm gonna pick up some kaboom and give that a shot. I've got a bucket of grungy tokens too.

-S

[RayB]

Well, I tried both lime juice and hot sauce (my curiousity got the best of me).

Both worked.. kinda.

[quarterback]

Well, I tried both lime juice and hot sauce (my curiousity got the best of me).

Both worked.. kinda.

[NoOne=NBA=]

Here's a dumb thought, but have you tried Brasso?

There's a reason every military person has at least one can of it around.

[NIVO]

i've tried 2 cleaners with some benefits to each. Tarn-X works great on the brass tokens, usually let em soak 4-6 hours.  C-L-R or"clear" as some call it worked well on the nickel plated ones(silver color). Worked even better using some #000 steel wool as well alongside the solution. YMMV, but i did see atleast a 50% improvement. They dont smell like cigarettes anymore either hehe.

[NoOne=NBA=]

I'm telling you a little Brasso, on a (preferably clean) diaper, and you're set.
Those suckers will SPARKLE.

Not that they are SUPPOSED to sparkle.
I've always just let the tokens be tokens.
They get old, and tarnished.

[quarterback]

FWIW, the lime juice does work, and not just because it's 'liquid' 

I'm telling you a little Brasso, on a (preferably clean) diaper, and you're set.
Those suckers will SPARKLE.

I used to be a drummer and used Brasso to clean my cymbals so I immediately thought of that... but I don't have any in my fridge    

Additionally, I figured there was something else that people were using and when I searched out this thread, I found that I was right.  And apparantly are apparantly a whole lot of "something elses" that people use considering it took that long for somebody to mention Brasso which "cleans, polishes and protects"

Actually, the lime juice works pretty well.  It doesn't eat away the severely tarnished/rusted/crappy spots, but it does quickly clean most of the crap off.

[rohan]

I've noticed everytime I leave spare(dirty) change in my pocket when I do laundry, the coins come out really clean...Try your washing machine with some detergent...

Disclaimer-don't come kill me if you destroy your washing machine because you stuck 300 dirty tokens in it.

[nostrebor]

Ketchup hasn't been mentioned yet. My 6 year old loves to clean pennies with ketchup. You have to do them one at a time though I you have a child, they make great token cleaning slaves

"Hey kids! Wanna play a fun game?"

[quarterback]

Ketchup hasn't been mentioned yet.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=21446.msg173865#msg173865

My 6 year old loves to clean pennies with ketchup. You have to do them one at a time though I you have a child, they make great token cleaning slaves

"Hey kids! Wanna play a fun game?"

LOL

[Chris]

Hmmmm.... maybe I can find some kind of net bagging, I'll just put a bunch in and see what happens

Get a lingere bag.  These are zippered net bags that women wash bras and pantihose in to keep them from wrapping around the spindle of the washer. 

--Chris

[quarterback]

Did three in the dishwasher.  Two in a plastic net bag, one in the silverware basket.

None of them looked significantly different after the wash.  So much for that idea.

[rohan]

Did you try the laundry idea yet?

[Franco]

I dont know if you guys can get it but you really want to try Cillit Bang. I dipped a penny in it for about two seconds and when i removed it it looked as clean as the day it was minted. It is powerful stuff so it may be quite abrasive but i think it you dipped the tokens in for a couple of seconds and then put them in a bowl of water you shouldnt really have any lasting damage.

[rohan]

According to this guy, it may actually ruin your coinage...quite a funny read.  I still advise the old laundry machine.
http://bang.adamwelch.co.uk/

[Franco]

Thought it may be a bit too strong, nice job on the undercover work.

While on the Cillit bang subject, is the original advert, check out this remix, quite funny!

[rooter]

I found tons of suggestions on cleaning tokens around here, but couldn't decide which one would be the best.  An experiment was in order!

Here are my results from least to most effective:
Whiskey, Tobasco, Beer, Listerine, Hydrogen Peroxide, Ketchup, Vinegar, Diet Coke, Coke, Lime, Lemon, Kaboom, Taco Bell Fire Sauce, Brass Cleaner

If you want to see in detail why I chose these cleaning products, how I came to my results, and a possibly decent attempt at humor, check out The Great Token Cleaning Experiment (rated PG13).

[shardian]

Back when I was a kid, I cleaned real dirty change by putting it in a pot with some vinegar. Put it over medium heat on the stove for a while, and stir with one of those scrubby things for cleaning the inside of deep cups.

Really dirty pennies looked good afterward, the so-so dirty ones shined great.

[DrumAnBass]

Haha great write up Rooter!! Made me laugh!!

 

[rooter]

Thanks.

For my next experiment I will be determining the perfect ratio of strippers to bacon to be placed in a hot tub.

Stay tuned!

[northerngames]

a parts washer like at an automotive shop should clean them like new also.

[unix4hire]

Heh, nice project Rooter!  Thanks for the efforts and the nicely documented (and funny) walk-thru!

If you have doubles of any tokens from back in the day shoot me a PM, I have some spares I could trade with ya.

[rooter]

Heh, nice project Rooter!  Thanks for the efforts and the nicely documented (and funny) walk-thru!

If you have doubles of any tokens from back in the day shoot me a PM, I have some spares I could trade with ya.

Thanks for the compliments! 

I absolutely plan on posting my duplicate tokens for trade.  I have them all scanned and I am in the process of making a list now.  I'll drop a post in the Buy/Sell/Trade section as soon as I get it together.

[stan2323]

Kaboom is the Kabomb.   



Thanks for the info.