Hi all – I've been reading about industrial "parts washers" that use hot water and detergent or degreaser to clean small metal parts. They seem like a natural fit for coins, and much safer than horrible dips and so forth. Has anyone used them? Hot water by itself is intriguing, and seems to solve a wide range of cleaning problems. But I can't get seriously hot water from typical domestic sources like a faucet, maybe 140-145° F tops. Have you messed around with serious hot water solutions like boilers, pressure washers, or parts washers? It looks like the extra heat will speed up the cleaning time, and maximize the effects of various detergents and degreasers. Will hot water harm any coins? Which types or circumstances? It won't strip them. I don't care about cleaning tarnish (meaning, I don't particularly wish to clean tarnish, say on silver coins, and I don't mind that hot water and soap won't do so) – this is mostly about cleaning dirt, grime, human skin oils/sebum, etc. Thanks.
I think acetone would work better than hot water. I would also strongly recommend against using detergents and degreasers
@Sunbird …do you have a stove? Water boils at sea level at 212 degrees, which should be hot enough for soaking grime off. What you don’t want to do is super heat like laundromat dryers would do, so I don’t recommend a parts washer or similar. BEFORE you do anything you must ask yourself if using hot water or acetone to remove grime will leave an altered or mottled surface after the treatment. Removing dirt, grime and dried adhesive exposes areas that have previously been covered. The surfaces can be negatively changed, possibly ruining the appearance (read that; eye appeal).
Lemme put it this way and sum it up in one word - don't ! There have been more threads and posts about proper cleaning than one would ever care to count. So, do a search, using the phrase proper cleaning as your key words and you'll find what ya need to know. To simplify things there's a very short list of proper cleaning methods, that when used properly, will not harm coins. And the best advice that anyone can give you is to not do anything that is not on that list ! And before trying, learn how first !
