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

[Dolf]

Originally Posted by Nota Bene

I am also against cleaning unless it is absolutely necessary to save an item from even more damage, f.i. to remove that green stuff from a bronze coin.

Alexei

Alexei,

That's exactly what I'd like to know: how to remove that "green stuff" and that kind of "red rust" from bronze Medals?
With some professional cleaning products for coins? Which ones would you advise?

Thanks a lot,

Dolf

[Dolf]

Alexei,

Thanks a lot for the super fast reply! In the meantime I was reading again this entire thread and found that reply to Monroe, but you were faster

That's not my Medal, just a pic from a seller that made me wonder what to do if I get one like this some day.
Any suggestions?

Anyway this thanks a lot too for letting me know this one is a fake
I didn't like the look anyway

Thanks a lot,

Dolf

[Nota Bene]

Dolf,

For coins I use Jeweluster coin cleaner, that works on gold, silver and brass/coper. I think it's more delicate then that stuff, used to clean silverwear. If you absolutely must clean that medal I would suggest dipping it in the solution for a split secong, and rinsing it under cold water right away. Do not rub it, just let it rest on a piece of soft cloth untill dry. Try this proces on something very inexpensive first.

Alexei

[Dolf]

Alexei,

Thanks a lot.

I hope I'll never have a Medal/Order in such condition, but it's good to know what to do just in case one of mine deteriorate with time or I'm sold one with those "green stuff" or "red rust" chips or spots.

That "Jeweluster" you mention is it the name of the product or a mark?
I recently found a store here where they sell that kind of products with lots of accessories for Coins, Stamps and that kind of stuff and got a Catalog from a mark called Leuchtturm! You know it? They have those cleaning products for Coins, but in their case I noticed they have one for Gold, another for Silver and another for Brass/Copper!

Thanks again.

Regards,

Dolf

[mcwirsk]

Dear Alexei

You should have let the Philipine guy clean your coins... just joking.

I agree with that its personal preference. I clean all my British and South Africa stuff. I no longer clean (on re ribbon) all my soviet stuff becuase everyone make a fuss about the patina. So if the item is really nicely toned I leave it alone.

regards
Munroe

[new world]

If a veteran was cleaning his awrds for many years - then there's risk that the goldplating will be all wiped off. In that case - how do you determine whether it's 3rd class or 2nd?

I saw an example of everyday cleaning on eBay, when Glories were polished/cleaned so extensively that they are almost ruined.

If you were to be offerd this 2nd class Glory separate from the group - how would you tell that it is indeed 2nd class?

New World

PS - image belongs to Dave

[scook17]

I received a couple of A4 sized certificates that came with a medal. They are somewhat crumpled and a little torn around the edges. I was wondering how I could straighten these out, ready for framing. I have through of laminating them, but I'm not sure this is a great idea. Any suggestions?

Kind Regards,
Shane Cook.

[McLenin]

Hi Shane
I have had a couple of medal documents (Stalingrad, Caucasus, Leningrad type) "stablilized" by a professional document restorer. I did not want them completely restored (thus losing character) but didn't want them to deteriorate any further either. I was happy with the results.
You could try putting your documents in a plastic folder, carefully flattening out the edges and then press them under a pile of books or something (I have done that too). Personally I would NEVER laminate them.

Originally I went to the document restorer to see if I could have bad Order Book entries removed but they couldn't help with that. Anyone had more success of this front? How about tattoo-removing lasers to fade the ink?

[Art]

Here is how I "restore" my documents.

1. Obtain archival quality card stock ( you can buy this stuff from a photo supply store, or visit light impressions on the Web, I mentioned the URL on the forum before so search for it here )

2. Lay card stock on hard surface ( Non-Archival quality cardstock is a no-no. There are chemicals which can leach into the document) place document on cardstock cut 1/4" bigger than document on all sides. Carefully place the document centered and face-up on the card-stock. Try to unfold any folded over creases. Place an identical piece of card-stock on top of the document. Place alot of weight on top of this. I use 5 or 6 encyclopedias.

3. Let sit 24 hours. Remove books and top piece of cardstock. Carefully loosen the document form the bottom piece of cardstock. You don't want the document to get stuck to the cardstock becuase of the weight that was put on it. After document is free, lay the document on a fresh piece of cardstock the same size.

4. Find a suitable Mylar-D sleeve to place the document and cardstock inside. You can get these at the same place the cardstock was purchased at. Always use Mylar-D, nothing else. Mylar-D is used by museums worldwide for such things. It doesn't contain additives which can be transferred to the document.


That's it!

[Nota Bene]

Shane,

If you need to do a minor repair to the document I think the best low tech way to do it is to use cigarette paper and egg white. I have tried it even on some banknotes from my collection, and it works fine.

Alexei

McLenin,

The bad guys making fake entries in the award documents manage to remove original entries very nicely, but the approach to newer entries should be a little different, because the ink hasn't "sunk" into the paper yet.

The solution you use will differ depending on the ink. For regular blue ink I start with moist q-tip, rolling it over the entry, making sure not to leave any fresh marks on the paper. Try not to get the paper too wet. This will remove about 20% of the ink. Let the paper dry for a day, and finish with ink pen dipped in very diluted chlorine solution. Try the solution on other documents first, it should be diluted enought not to remove the background in the document. Try it on some documents that you don't need. for entries made in black synthetic ink start with step two. The result is not perfect, but I think it's acceptable.

Alexei