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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Co1ns, post: 4777791, member: 87765&quot;]It&#039;s far too early in my experiments with lye to personally recommend it or draw any conclusions, but what I hypothesize is that a base (alkali), is less likely to damage the surface of a coin than an acid like vinegar. It also seems to have the benefit of leaving its own patina.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve ran out of DW to mix the sodium hydroxide granules with after changing water in tubs earlier in the week, but once I restock, I plan on giving a range of coins a lye bath - a couple with rough patina, a couple showing porous bare metal, a couple with thick desert patina, a couple with bronze disease, and maybe one or two that don&#039;t really need it, but might come out the other side looking better.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve given up on acids for the moment. Though I wasn&#039;t as careful as [USER=93672]@singig[/USER], using short intervals etc, I&#039;ve already wrecked the surfaces of a couple junk pieces of silver and a couple of bronzes. The vinegar seemed to attack the metal at the same slow pace as any crust, dirt, rough patina I was trying to remove and left porosity where there was none before. Lye seems more targeted, gentler on the metal, with an overnight bath only attacking the latter stuff, and with noteworthy vigour.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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