Badge looking bad.

[Mickesouth]

Hi all. Wanted to ask for some advice how i could improve to looks of this badge?? Its verry dull and boring as it looks now.Verry dark, close to black.It needs to get cleaned in a safe way and also if it is possible to give at least som shine to it.

[Jos L C]

Yup,that one's rather dull..
Safe way cleaning is very difficult because if you like to remove all dirt you need a bit of strong stuff...and as we know this can do some damage in the worst case.
Just leave it or go for the unknown result...you might put it in some vinegar for a while,in the meantime constantly checking and now and then gently brushing with a old toothbrush,it'll loosen/remove the dirt,then take the old toothbrush and some toothpaste,it might work...it works for the teeth without damage..

You can also leave it like this and only brush it up with the toothbrush to make it a bit more shiny.

Jos.

[Luftm40]

You really can't do much for a zinc badge in this condition. The original finish...and I'm not familiar w/ the badge so don't know what color it was...would have been a lacquer wash. This appears to be gone now, leaving the underlying zinc exposed. "shining"it will only ruin the badge more. Lightly brushing the loose material off will help, and there are things you can do to stop "zinc pest", or the whitish deterioration you see. The "rot" on this badge is pretty advanced though, having eaten away some of the detail. I would A) live w/ it or B) sell it for what you can and put that toward a nicer example!

[Mickesouth]

Thx for your input gents ! I think i will leave it like it is, or at most some vasselin to remove some of the pest. After all im glad just having it it in my collection.

[wh014d4394]

send it to me i will give it some love if thats what you want

[DZR]

Cleaning zinc tinnies

Years ago I acquired a mixed bag of items that included some really corroded zinc tinnies. Since one was so nasty that I couldn't make out any of its design elements, I decided to experiment. I tried dropping it into a small dish filled with Tarn-X. Wow - this stuff takes off all of the white zinc corrosion, and VERY QUICKLY! And the result can be a fantastic looking piece. The only downside is that very tiny pits will remain where the corrosion was, but in my opinion, and certainly in every case where I've done this, the result is a great improvement.

If you want to try it, when the chemical reaction takes place, tiny bubbles will start to foam up from the surface of the tinnie. I must emphasize that you need to take the badge out of the Tarn-X and rinse it thoroughly after 10-15 seconds of this foaming reaction. Less is more, and you can always repeat the process. You don't want to dissolve your badge!

Has anyone else ever tried this? Any other methods?

[schönbeck]

whats TARN-X?

[walt]

whats TARN-X?

It's a dip style silver cleaner sold in the US.
And I can tell you it smells terrible!