Damaged, Repair, Clean, Preserve Soviet Awards And Documents.

[RichieC]

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[Esteban_cool]

I assume it´s for Communications Dept?

[Lapa]

Esteban,

It is for Post, Telegraph and Telephone Office workers, type 1937.

Marc

[Esteban_cool]

Esteban: Thanks for the tip - I have a couple of table medals with that real "verdigris" that need a good brushing. I'm sure the green will go, but I expect a "stained" area to remain after cleaning because it is still corroded.

Now I got another tip from my grandparents´ fellow jeweler. With this you will remove the verdigris much better than with the soap/brush tip, but you gotta be careful with this one if you don´t want to kiss the patina goodbye: Place the item into a deep cup some white vinegar and let it rest for 10-15 minuts and then remove the verdigris with the toothbrush. It works excellent when you have too much of it or if it appears in some hard to access corners(letters, wreaths, face details, etc).

I´ve had good results with the copper NK Guards badge I posted before. After removing it, the vinegar made the copper look much more clearer (like when you soak a piece of cloth with chlorine) and I was afraid that the patina would dissapear, but surprisingly, it came back a couple days later. However that was not the case with my stalingrad medal, that now looks like in mint condition.

[deValcourt]

Esteban, it's a fine line between preservation/restoration and "keeping it real." To me, it is a better situation to have a medal or other award looking like "new" rather than letting it get destroyed by corrosive problems. Of course others will probably disagree with this approach, but hey, so be it. I don't polish awards, but I don't want to have them so corroded that details are lost either.

And thanks or the tip since I do have a couple of "easy" fixes and some that will require a more aggressive cleaning like the vinegar treatment rather than having it not worth displaying. (Ooh, I expect some reactions to this post...).

Phillip

[Esteban_cool]

...I do have a couple of "easy" fixes and some that will require a more aggressive cleaning like the vinegar treatment rather than having it not worth displaying. (Ooh, I expect some reactions to this post...).

Phillip

How serious are we talking about? IMHO, letting it more time inside the vinegar (20 min approx.) and brushing harder with a thicker brush could do well, but if the verdigris has already penetrated the metal I´d say there´s no way to recover it. You may want to remove the remaining verdigris at the bottom of the corrosion with circular brush movements.

[deValcourt]

I was speaking in generalities about what can happen if the corrosion is not removed as soon as possible. I don't have anything (that I know about, at least ) in such bad shape that it can't be cleaned. However, I have seen some medals that have been completely covered in long streaks of verdigris.

Phillip

[Lapa]

Guys,

Just to remind you that vinegar is effectively an acid, and that brass, and especially copper, are very reactive to it... I would not mind using Esteban's advice on gold or platinum, but I definitely would not use it on copper and brass.

Marc

[Esteban_cool]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately it was too late for me but at least won´t happen again.

[ph3s]

well if you wash in hot water and soap afterwards, that will do. Generally I read recently about a wax called 'Renaissance' feedbacks were good and I decided to give it a try it just hasn't arrived yet. It's not for removing but to preventing all sorts of bad thing that could happens to collectibles in result of oxidation etc. You probably will laugh ( especially Marc(Lapa)) but it's snowing in England and most of the services including post simply don't work.