I'd like to hear others thoughts on this topic.
Preserving daggers/swords vs. EKs vs. wehrmacht badges are 3 birds of a different feather in my book. As such, each erquired different forms of care and attention to preserve them. For this purpose, i'd like to discuss the cleaning and preservation of badges.
I've experimentd with a variety of meathods for both cleaning and preserving the badges. Here's what I found works best for me.
I first light remove any visible dirt or grime which can be taken off with a soft cloth and getle rubbing. I then make my homemade "sudsy amonia"c concoction. My recipe includes warm water, pure amonia, and some mild and non-abrassive dish soap. I mix a small batch then bath the badges in the mixture for about 15 seconds. I then remove the badges and lightly and gently brush them with a very soft toothe brush, still using the sudsy amonia. This seems to both remove any trace amounts of dirt and grime that is left. The amonia also seems to bring back alot of the badges color, contained in the gold or silver gilt finish. I then immediately rinse the cleaned badge with warm water, not hot, just warm. Immediately after, i thoroughly dry the badge. I mean thoroughly. Once the badge is dried to my satisfaction, i immediately give the badge a 1st coat of museum grade wax. Prior to the application of the wax coat, it is imperative that the badge is free of any moisture or the wax will trap the H2o between the wax coat and badge casuing degredation and oxidation from the water...not to mention rust. Once the 1st coat of museum wax is dry, I gently buff off the wax with a soft cloth. I then apply a 2nd coat of wax, which is lighter than the 1st, allow it to dry, and rebuff it with the soft cloth.
The badge should now be impervious to fingerprints and the elements as well as free of dirt, grime and should have shined up a bit from the amonia in the sudsy amonia mixture.
This meathod seems to work quite well for me and it was derived from my preservation meathods for brass and aluminum saber hilts.
I'd be very interested to hear what other collectors do to preserve thier war badges. My EK meathod is much different. The iron core will want to rust up once exposed to the water. I avoid all water on my EKs.
Tom
Preserving daggers/swords vs. EKs vs. wehrmacht badges are 3 birds of a different feather in my book. As such, each erquired different forms of care and attention to preserve them. For this purpose, i'd like to discuss the cleaning and preservation of badges.
I've experimentd with a variety of meathods for both cleaning and preserving the badges. Here's what I found works best for me.
I first light remove any visible dirt or grime which can be taken off with a soft cloth and getle rubbing. I then make my homemade "sudsy amonia"c concoction. My recipe includes warm water, pure amonia, and some mild and non-abrassive dish soap. I mix a small batch then bath the badges in the mixture for about 15 seconds. I then remove the badges and lightly and gently brush them with a very soft toothe brush, still using the sudsy amonia. This seems to both remove any trace amounts of dirt and grime that is left. The amonia also seems to bring back alot of the badges color, contained in the gold or silver gilt finish. I then immediately rinse the cleaned badge with warm water, not hot, just warm. Immediately after, i thoroughly dry the badge. I mean thoroughly. Once the badge is dried to my satisfaction, i immediately give the badge a 1st coat of museum grade wax. Prior to the application of the wax coat, it is imperative that the badge is free of any moisture or the wax will trap the H2o between the wax coat and badge casuing degredation and oxidation from the water...not to mention rust. Once the 1st coat of museum wax is dry, I gently buff off the wax with a soft cloth. I then apply a 2nd coat of wax, which is lighter than the 1st, allow it to dry, and rebuff it with the soft cloth.
The badge should now be impervious to fingerprints and the elements as well as free of dirt, grime and should have shined up a bit from the amonia in the sudsy amonia mixture.
This meathod seems to work quite well for me and it was derived from my preservation meathods for brass and aluminum saber hilts.
I'd be very interested to hear what other collectors do to preserve thier war badges. My EK meathod is much different. The iron core will want to rust up once exposed to the water. I avoid all water on my EKs.
Tom
Comment