How To Store And Display Awards.

[Sergei]

Damage to a silver medal from my plastic sleeves. I am beginning to think about cleaning and varnishing some of my medals. Damned manufacturers.
Sergei

[Pobeda45]

That looks like PVC damage (greenish film), if it's not too severe a few dips in acetone should take care of it. Good luck with it!
PVC Residue on Coins - How to Remove PVC Damage

[deValcourt]

In the especially high humidity climate in which I live, I have found that the best method of storing my favorite medals, badges, orders, etc. is in one of two places: a very large glass-lidded, hinged display case (that is laying flat on my upstairs office floor). Beneath the orders and medals is a double layer of sheer (a countless number of tiny holes) fabric which just happens to very closely match the "wave green" of Soviet parade uniforms; the other is simply a medium-sized curios, velvet lined chest of drawers. Both provide lots of breathing room yet keeps the humidity down enough not to rapidly impact the metals.

For the overflow and for documents, I use museum "paper grade" plastic sheets in a binder. They make these in all sorts of sizes with some sheets having up to 8 compartments that fit medals rather well. The only problem is that there is no sealed top to the compartments and if you don't handle the binder correctly, there will be lots of spillage which could be especially dangerous on my ceramic tile.

There are photos of both of these somewhere on the forum.

Phillip

[Sergei]

Having done the aceton cleaning as Pobeda45 suggested, I still had a bit of artificial patina left so in the end I went for siver dip diluted with water. Then another acetone wipe and two coats of clear metal lacquer by Rustin's (seems the easier one to find in the UK). Takes ages when you try to do it carefully. Anxiously awaiting your comments on the outcome .
Sergei

[travel-north]

Looks good, but patina is gone.

[medals73]

And the lacquer will make things much worse over the long term.

[Sergei]

Originally Posted by medals73

And the lacquer will make things much worse over the long term.

What does lacquer do?
Sergei

Originally Posted by travel-north

Looks good, but patina is gone.

True, my problem in this case is that the patina was three years old (the medal was cleaned or else extremely well preserved before I got it). So, we are back to the old debate: to clean or not to clean?
Sergei

[CtahhR]

For me clean (almost always).

Polish - Never!

I've come across a great amount substances attached to awards that are far from natural. Grease, wax, plasticine, blood, tobacco smoke (and all the comes with it), animal faeces, sticky tape, mud, dust, metal polish and of course fake patina. None of which were ever intended to be displayed of someone's chest.

Clean then store, if any natural patina occurs during storage that just means they are still being exposed to atmosphere.

Most of the "junk" found on items can continue to damage the items. Specially if someone has been polishing brass or silver with polishes as they deliberate go green/black so you have to buy more polish and do it again.

[travel-north]

Your arguments for cleaning items before storing are pretty good and made me think. Now I'm convinced that I should clean my stuff. Well preserved items are my priority no 1. It's more important than nice patina.
How do you do your cleaning? Does acetone remove rust and dirt? Is acetone perfectly safe? Is there anything else I should know before using acetone? Can I use the same acetone bath for many items?
The major problem I see is suspensions. They also need to be cleaned. But what to do with the ribbons? They can be very dirty too.

[CtahhR]

I use water (sometimes warm sometimes boiling depending on the junk that is present), liquid soap and wipe down with a towel (or similar fabric). Sometimes if the item has been ground dug or particularly neglected I will use a toothbrush or scrubbing brush depending on the item. Sometimes when something is particularly attached I try to scratch it off with a fingernail (a dry one not a wet one which becomes soft) as a fingernail may be metallic but is generally softer than any award.

On rare occasion, when I get my hands on a particularly abused copper based item it will get a light wash in malt vinegar. Care needs to be taken in doing so as plated copper items will soon have the plate eaten off if not careful (about 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on plate and temperature). This is just a one time measure though and I was any vinegar off as to make sure it doesn't keep eating the item. Don't mix vinegar and silver! Also don't forget that fingers are acidic too and human contact with the medallions is also not good for the metals.

Here's an example.

Here's before.

And 6 months after "cleaning".
http://soviet-awards.com/forum/sovie...tml#post163348

P.S. Also had paint and nail polish on awards.