Here's a pic and it's been soaking for two days already, should I soak for four days? What is the longest you've soaked in acetone for? Just wondering as I'm not that savy on using acetone at all. Sometimes I've had good results with it and sometimes, nothing. Does soaking in Xylol make that much of a difference than soaking in acetone?
I would be interested in hearing what others do to clean up brass. I have about a dozen N.H. transit tokens that need it. Brasso is just too harsh.
Why are you soaking your coin in acetone? What is it you're trying to clean off? Acetone is not a cure-all.
Soaking isn't going to restore the missing gilt. It might actually remove more, but I'm not sure. I don't see a lot of gunk on that one. A bit above the FAIR . . . . . Z
No, I don't care about the gilt at all. The funk right above the building is what I'm trying to remove and there's more on the reverse. I'm not sure what I'm trying to get off, the Token is dated 1884 so it could be dust for all I know. And yes, I know acetone is not a cure all but I think I'll give it four days anyways and decide what to do with it then!
It's probably done having any effect after about 24 hours... Make sure it's covered well because if it evaporates you will end up with the gunk just planting itself back on the token. Personally, I'd take it out of the dirty acetone and then give it a swish in some fresh acetone and be done with it.... and then on to the brass polish...I'm kidding I'm kidding!!! Actually I'd probably use Xylene after the acetone but it probably won't make a difference in this case.
Yes, I just checked it and the darker areas I'm trying to get rid of are turning lighter in color which is great! I think I'll let it ride, honestly I can't remember the longest I've ever soaked in acetone but it's 3 or 4 days, so I'll let it go and see what tomorrow looks like!
Acetone has little to no effect on ordinary dirt and grime and that looks like what is on the token. In all honesty, you'd probably have better luck with soaking it in distilled water as that is what has the greatest effect on ordinary dirt and grime.
Okay, I had it in distilled water already but only for a day, guess I'll try it again. Will using distilled water change the color of the Token? How long should I soak in distilled water, how many days?
Two or three days isn't gonna hurt anything. If ya left it in there for months it would probably start to corrode, but not in a few days. Here's the thing, when something is on a coin to safely get it off you have to use whatever that something is soluble in. And there's a very short list of things that are soluble in acetone. But many more in distilled water. Point is there's no guarantee that distilled water will work either, but you've got a better chance with it, and almost none with acetone. And soaking all by itself isn't gonna do it, you're gonna need to hold it by the edges and swish it around in the water a couple of times a day to provide some agitation, help wash the substance away. You don't want to touch the surface or try to rub or brush it off as that could cause damage. But swishing it around won't hurt anything. If that doesn't get it off, then I'd let it air dry thoroughly and leave it alone.
Well I tried everything on this Token, after trying acetone and distilled water I realized I would have to pull out the big guns! The die the Token was minted on was faulty or over the years it simply became pitted somehow. My last resort and big guns approach was to dip it in Silver jewelry cleaner. That's something you never want to do but I'm pleased with it and now I'll leave it alone!
