NcHillbilly
Jr. Member
- Jan 17, 2015
- 23
- 27
- Detector(s) used
- Ace 250
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
As I've said in nearly every post I've made since joining a few days ago, I'm relatively new to metal detecting. I'm sure this topic has been covered in another post, but my 30 seconds of searching didn't turn up the result I was looking for.
So here's my question to those with the experience. What is the best way to clean the items you find? I'm not talking about making them shinny and new, but just to get the dirt off so you can identify and appreciate what you've found?
I've been using a soft toothbrush and soapy water, but I'm finding some items require more than a gentle scrubbing. My find today I thought was just a jagged hunk of iron. Luckily I decided to clean it anyway, just to be safe. I started with my toothbrush and soapy water which reveled nothing. I then whipped out my pocket knife to scrape off some of the crud to see what I had, good thing too as it turned out the jagged hunk of iron was actually a 1907 Jamestown Expo watch fob.
Everything worked out OK, but I'd have been sick to ruin a nice find like that by scraping it with a knife. I'm wondering what tricks (if any) you guys use to clean off your finds without damaging what's underneath all the grime?
So here's my question to those with the experience. What is the best way to clean the items you find? I'm not talking about making them shinny and new, but just to get the dirt off so you can identify and appreciate what you've found?
I've been using a soft toothbrush and soapy water, but I'm finding some items require more than a gentle scrubbing. My find today I thought was just a jagged hunk of iron. Luckily I decided to clean it anyway, just to be safe. I started with my toothbrush and soapy water which reveled nothing. I then whipped out my pocket knife to scrape off some of the crud to see what I had, good thing too as it turned out the jagged hunk of iron was actually a 1907 Jamestown Expo watch fob.
Everything worked out OK, but I'd have been sick to ruin a nice find like that by scraping it with a knife. I'm wondering what tricks (if any) you guys use to clean off your finds without damaging what's underneath all the grime?
