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Subject:Cleaning can be tricky
Posted By: beadiste Mon, Mar 26, 2018
Most of these pieces were given a light gold electroplating, which after a couple of decades seems to disappear and the copper wires oxidize to dark brown.
Polishing will likely remove any remaining electroplating, and also, depending upon what is used, leave white residue in the surface pits in the enamel. So liquid polishes are out, and even NevrDull wadding has to be used carefully and followed with a horsehair brush and a micro-polish cloth to remove the residue.
I've seen pieces that apparently were polished using a mechanical buff, stripping all patina down to the bright copper. Perhaps this was necessary because of verdigris, but it gives the pieces a rather garish look, I think.
So unless there's verdigris that must be removed, I tend not to polish pieces. The naptha in NevrDull seems to work well to remove grease and smoke stains (yeah, it's not the safest chemical, but unlike soap and water it evaporates quickly). Haven't tried acetone, but am guessing it would have a similar effect to remove grease, tar, or sticky tape residue.
A micro-polish cloth such as Sunshine Cloth helps to remove wax or other polish residue.
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