How to Clean Buttons

[BuckleBoy]

Q-tip

Or toothpick/skewer. If you do use a toothpick, be gentle and make sure you soak the end of it in water or jelly a while first to soften the tip up.

Best Wishes,


Buck

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Garabaldi]

Here are some before and after pics of a police button I cleaned with aluminum jelly,
Great post Buckle Boy!!!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Here are some before and after pics of a police button I cleaned with aluminum jelly,
Great post Buckle Boy!!!
View attachment 721779View attachment 721780View attachment 721781View attachment 721782View attachment 721783

Man, that is a KILLER job on the cleaning of that button. Seriously, one of the finest gilded buttons I've seen posted in a while!

Cheers,

Buck

 

[nitnelyons]

Glad i joined this site. Thanks for the tip on cleaning old buttons.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Glad i joined this site. Thanks for the tip on cleaning old buttons.

SWEET Avatar Photo!!!

Welcome to Tnet.

 

[VaMark]

Here are some pictures of a nice Eagle "I" button I recently found. I don't have a picture of it after I removed the dirt from it with warm water and Very Light SOFT tooth brush cleaning.
After that it had the typical green crusty spots on it so I soaked it in straight janitorial strength ammonia for about 5 minutes and brush again Very Lightly with the SOFT tooth brush, I did this 2 times to get all the green crust off. The result is the first picture, it looked good wet but when it dried it had a chalky look to it. I put some Naval Jelly on it with a small art painting brush and worked it around front and back, with gloves of coarse. Now with the Naval jelly still on it I took a tooth pick and LIGHTLY rubbed the gold areas until I could see the crud coming off, then rinse and repeat as necessary. The second picture is the finished product, the area around the "I" appears to be white, but that's just the reflection, it's gold.
This worked well for me, your results may vary.

GL

 

[BuckleBoy]

Here are some pictures of a nice Eagle "I" button I recently found. I don't have a picture of it after I removed the dirt from it with warm water and Very Light SOFT tooth brush cleaning.
After that it had the typical green crusty spots on it so I soaked it in straight janitorial strength ammonia for about 5 minutes and brush again Very Lightly with the SOFT tooth brush, I did this 2 times to get all the green crust off. The result is the first picture, it looked good wet but when it dried it had a chalky look to it. I put some Naval Jelly on it with a small art painting brush and worked it around front and back, with gloves of coarse. Now with the Naval jelly still on it I took a tooth pick and LIGHTLY rubbed the gold areas until I could see the crud coming off, then rinse and repeat as necessary. The second picture is the finished product, the area around the "I" appears to be white, but that's just the reflection, it's gold.
This worked well for me, your results may vary.

GL

Thanks so much for posting this here! GREAT cleaning job on that beauty of a button! I have had trouble with the "green crud" on buttons too. In my experience it has been holy hell to get off of the surface of a gilded button (and it usually seems to ONLY attack the gilded ones!). If ammonia works, Im all for it. Might have to give this a try.

Cheers,

Buck

 

[WildDigger]

Here are some before and after pics of a police button I cleaned with aluminum jelly,
Great post Buckle Boy!!!
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=721779"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=721780"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=721781"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=721782"/><img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=721783"/>

Wow nice job. I will have to try that. I have never heard of aluminum jelly. Is that the same as navel jelly for rust removal?

 

[BuckleBoy]

Wow nice job. I will have to try that. I have never heard of aluminum jelly. Is that the same as navel jelly for rust removal?

Same active ingredient as naval jelly, yes.

 

[WildDigger]

Same active ingredient as naval jelly, yes.

Cool thanks. I will try it on a busted eagle button first.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Bump.

 

[LaGold]

The KMI cadet button isn't in the best shape I wanted to get it in better shape to hopefully get more detail and my flower button I'd like to see it cleaned up better... Cannonballguy is who identified the KMI cadet button for me... You can't see in the pic but it has cadet on the top... The top half is all I found of the two peice button.
In the last two pics you can see from the back side the cadet and in the next on the bottom the KMI

signals diggem all... LaGold

 

[BuckleBoy]

The gilded button already looks great. I would have the KMI button restored. That would be the obvious choice, with a button that scarce. It'd come back near-perfect. A restoration is usually not that expensive, compared to the value of a button like that. Of course, get it insured when you send it in.

Cheers,

Buck

 

[LaGold]

Thanks for the info. Would happen to have any recommendations on who to send it to for restoration? I didn't realize just how rare it was that only the second button I had ever found. Thanks again.

signals diggem all... LaGold

 

[BuckleBoy]

Thanks for the info. Would happen to have any recommendations on who to send it to for restoration? I didn't realize just how rare it was that only the second button I had ever found. Thanks again.

signals diggem all... LaGold

Hallowed Ground Restorations

Roland is one of the best. Write to him, send him good clear close up photos of the button, and ask for a quote.

 

[LaGold]

Thanks again

signals diggem all... LaGold

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Great thread there Buck, I learned alot, thanks.
ZDD

 

[BuckleBoy]

Thanks all for your kind replies. If anyone has a button that they'd like some friendly cleaning advice on, or just want to post a before/after photo, please feel free to add it.

Best Wishes,


Buck

 

[elijahhenry10]

Here is the pic you asked for BuckleBoy.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Here is the pic you asked for BuckleBoy.

It looks like what you have there is a pre-war one-piece eagle militia button (Infantry). Probably 1840s or 50s. I would've probably not used water on it, but rather the toothpick method, knowing that these buttons are usually low relief, and that a lot of contrast would've been needed between the field and the design for eye appeal. That said, it looks fine. Would it have looked better without water but rather dry toothpicking instead, followed by lightly going over with a finger (natural oil on the skin) to bring out the design? Yes.

Best Wishes,

Buck