How to Clean Buttons

[NUKE345KV]

Thanks alott Buckle your techniques are wonderful and very easy to do. thanks again

 

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[RPG]

One question. I have looked at the composition of both naval and aluminum jelly and the naval jelly looks to be more harsh having more acid in it. I have not found a local supplier that carries aluminum jelly but naval jelly is readily available. How is this going to work for cleaning gold gilded relics? Should I be more careful with it or not use it at all? I have seen what it will do to rust and it is not something to play around with.
Randy

 

[BuckleBoy]

One question. I have looked at the composition of both naval and aluminum jelly and the naval jelly looks to be more harsh having more acid in it. I have not found a local supplier that carries aluminum jelly but naval jelly is readily available. How is this going to work for cleaning gold gilded relics? Should I be more careful with it or not use it at all? I have seen what it will do to rust and it is not something to play around with.
Randy

Randy,

I use aluminum jelly--and I can't speak to the effectiveness or danger of naval jelly. But I think Don in SJ uses naval jelly on his buttons, as per his replies above. I have heard that others use it as well, with good results. Rust is a lot less stable of a compound than dirt or gold, so I'd say you'll be o.k.

If anything, experiment with a gilded flat button or some object of less value first.


Oh--feel free to post a good photo of the before and after. I'd love to see how it goes.


Best Wishes,



Buckles

 

[RPG]

One question. I have looked at the composition of both naval and aluminum jelly and the naval jelly looks to be more harsh having more acid in it. I have not found a local supplier that carries aluminum jelly but naval jelly is readily available. How is this going to work for cleaning gold gilded relics? Should I be more careful with it or not use it at all? I have seen what it will do to rust and it is not something to play around with.
Randy

Randy,

I use aluminum jelly--and I can't speak to the effectiveness or danger of naval jelly. But I think Don in SJ uses naval jelly on his buttons, as per his replies above. I have heard that others use it as well, with good results. Rust is a lot less stable of a compound than dirt or gold, so I'd say you'll be o.k.

If anything, experiment with a gilded flat button or some object of less value first.


Oh--feel free to post a good photo of the before and after. I'd love to see how it goes.


Best Wishes,



Buckles

Will do BuckleBoy.
I will experiment with it this weekend and if it works I have a beautiful sash buckle I found this week to clean.
Some sort of bird with a lot of gilt left on it. I will post pics.
Randy

 

[Tnmountains]

One question. I have looked at the composition of both naval and aluminum jelly and the naval jelly looks to be more harsh having more acid in it. I have not found a local supplier that carries aluminum jelly but naval jelly is readily available. How is this going to work for cleaning gold gilded relics? Should I be more careful with it or not use it at all? I have seen what it will do to rust and it is not something to play around with.
Randy

Randy,

That naval jelly is very strong. I would go with what Buckleboy uses. My buttons were to far gone. No gilt or very little left. Guess I could gold leaf them back to new?? I think I am kidding,,,still thinking about it. Nahhh
Great post I keep watching it.
TnMountains

I use aluminum jelly--and I can't speak to the effectiveness or danger of naval jelly. But I think Don in SJ uses naval jelly on his buttons, as per his replies above. I have heard that others use it as well, with good results. Rust is a lot less stable of a compound than dirt or gold, so I'd say you'll be o.k.

If anything, experiment with a gilded flat button or some object of less value first.


Oh--feel free to post a good photo of the before and after. I'd love to see how it goes.


Best Wishes,



Buckles

Will do BuckleBoy.
I will experiment with it this weekend and if it works I have a beautiful sash buckle I found this week to clean.
Some sort of bird with a lot of gilt left on it. I will post pics.
Randy

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

FYI,

I found a nice tombac yesterday. I tried aluminum jelly on it and here are the results. I would give it the green light!

BEFORE CLEANING:

AFTER CLEANING:

 

[BuckleBoy]

FYI,

I found a nice tombac yesterday. I tried aluminum jelly on it and here are the results. I would give it the green light!

BEFORE CLEANING:

AFTER CLEANING:

I was just writing you a PM to ask you to please post that to this thread. Those are some Great results. It had me fishing around in my display cases for my tombacs to try it on.


Wonderful cleaning job!



Regards,



Buckles

 

[RPG]

I know this is a button thread but had to show this one off since The cleaning method is the same. I was finaly able to find some aluminum jelly. See results below.
Randy

 

[BuckleBoy]

Sweet Jesus, that's a BEAUTIFUL piece! Thanks for posting that, RPG. 8) Is it a civilian sash buckle?

 

[RPG]

Sweet Jesus, that's a BEAUTIFUL piece! Thanks for posting that, RPG. 8) Is it a civilian sash buckle?

Yes, that would be my guess. It had the wire loop on the back that fell off as soon as I dug it.
I was really surprised at the amount of gilt left on it.

Good Luck
Randy

 

[BuckleBoy]

Sweet Jesus, that's a BEAUTIFUL piece! Thanks for posting that, RPG. 8) Is it a civilian sash buckle?

Yes, that would be my guess. It had the wire loop on the back that fell off as soon as I dug it.
I was really surprised at the amount of gilt left on it.

Good Luck
Randy

That is incredible. My display case is Jealous! Fantastic find in beautiful condition.


Best Wishes to you,


Buckles

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

I found this one today. It is my second one this week. My instincts are telling me to leave it as is.

 

[BuckleBoy]

I found this one today. It is my second one this week. My instincts are telling me to leave it as is.

Yes, I would agree with you. At most, I might take a wet Q-tip and gently roll it over the surface to remove the dirt before putting it in the display case.

 

[X-Splenda]

will this work on copper buttons and bronze button's... i usally used olive oil... now i am stopping that....
u think mineral oil is safe?? i am using that now with 2 buttons... it takes the dirt of good....

 

[BuckleBoy]

will this work on copper buttons and bronze button's... i usally used olive oil... now i am stopping that....
u think mineral oil is safe?? i am using that now with 2 buttons... it takes the dirt of good....

Except for the pewter and tombac buttons, every single pre-1900 button that I've ever found is brass. Some may look more copper colored, but unless it's newer I'd bet your buttons are brass too. In my experience, any oil is a messy thing to use to clean, especially with 2-piece buttons.

Best Wishes,


Buckles

 

[kuger]

Absolutely awesome post Buckles,thanks I printed it and is now in the front of my PRESERVATION file.I use very similar techniques on buckles.Water is a no no on them too.Thanks!!!!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Absolutely awesome post Buckles,thanks I printed it and is now in the front of my PRESERVATION file.I use very similar techniques on buckles.Water is a no no on them too.Thanks!!!!

Yes, too few people realize that water is a no-no on a lot of dug brass or copper items. Glad you found this helpful.

Best Wishes,



Buckles

 

[Mainedigger]

Absolutely awesome post Buckles,thanks I printed it and is now in the front of my PRESERVATION file.I use very similar techniques on buckles.Water is a no no on them too.Thanks!!!!

Yes, too few people realize that water is a no-no on a lot of dug brass or copper items. Glad you found this helpful.

Best Wishes,



Buckles

BB...and I am one of those....have always intially rinsed my buttons with water then taken a toothbrush to them lightly cleaning them. With your post and pics of your results, I will in the future use your methods and cure myself of improper cleaning.
Thanks for a great informative and VERY useful post...much appreciated!!

 

[BuckleBoy]

BB...and I am one of those....have always intially rinsed my buttons with water then taken a toothbrush to them lightly cleaning them. With your post and pics of your results, I will in the future use your methods and cure myself of improper cleaning.
Thanks for a great informative and VERY useful post...much appreciated!!

You're welcome my friend. Thanks for reading.


Feel free to post some results on this thread.



Regards,



Buckles

 

[kuger]

Yea copper too,I ruined my first large cent with water!!