I recently recieved this panzer skull. I have cleaned it with a special solvent (EDTA in german), but this white material remained. Has anybody an idea what it is and how to remove it?
Thanks for looking.
Thanks for looking.
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I have no idea what EDTA is. I've never even heard of it before reading this post. All I can say is what you likely already know. It's obviously some way that the chemical has reacted with what appears to be zinc on your cap skull.
Since it's been cleaned it with chemicals of unknown composition, without knowing how the various ingredients react with the metal, it's just about impossible to say what it is or how to remove it. I could only suggest that you try vaseline. If it doesn't disolve or soften with vaseline (as zinc pest would), then allowing it to be wiped off easily, then this is a problem that could require methods which will damage the skull itself even further. I'm not suggesting that this substance is zinc pest, but it does certainly look like it. Not knowing for sure what it is, I'm only suggesting that it could come off as zinc pest would, using vaseline.
Cleaning any of this stuff is always very risky business, no matter what the end result may actually be. Even when we somehow get a good result, it's usually just luck.
I wish I could be more helpful, but that's really about all I can say.
Chris
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thank you very much for your answer. Concerning EDTA - i must say my english is limited, but please have a look at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDTA
Normally EDTA is cleaning zink pest, so i suppose it is something other (like lime/plaster). I will further try and tell you my results.Comment
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I admit that I did misunderstand something earlier. I thought that the white substance remained, as a biproduct of using the chemical EDTA. In reading things again, along with your second post, I see that the white substance was apparently already on the skull, before you applied the EDTA.
Not that it will help me incredibly to know the answer, but I do have a couple of other questions.
1) Was the white substance also on the skull elsewhere, before cleaning? In other words, was it only on the places in which it remains now? Or, did the EDTA possibly remove it in areas elsewhere?
2) What, if anything, did the EDTA remove or clean from the skull? I'm just curious about that, even though it has nothing to do with removing the white substance.
I did read the wikipedia information in your link about EDTA. However, I admit that even my English is limited in understanding such technical chemical information.
I suppose the real key here is understanding exactly what the white substance is and then determing exactly what can remove it most safely. That may impossible or at least very difficult. If it is lime or plaster, as you suspect, then the key is in determining what can dissolve those materials. Since it probably can't be taken off dry in a safe way (without damaging it), then dissolving it with something is probably the safer method.
The problem is also that in using a chemical aggressive enough to remove the substance, you may also damage the skull in a far more unacceptable way, as well. So, with all the uncertainty and risks of making things worse, I would probably just leave it alone at this point. Unless you know for sure what something is and know for sure about the results of cleaning, I'd say that no action is the best action. That's just my opinion.
Again, I realize that I haven't really helped you much. However, this may at least help you to think about it all a little better.
Chris
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every answer is better than no answer
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Here is a pic of the skull before. It could be that it was found in the ground, but i am not sure.
I always use EDTA for cleaning zink items. I works great without affecting the material. This is the first time i could not clean an item completely - i suggest it is dime. But all (soft) dime cleaner doesnt work.Comment
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Hmmmmm. From the photo above, it certainly looks like the white substance was not on the skull, before it was cleaned. This suggests to me that it was either something beneath what was otherwise removed on the surface or it is something that was formed from a reaction of the EDTA with that particular piece. That's just my little bit of detective thinking. I know it may seem like the obvious, but it's about the most I can deduce from the information we have.
Chris
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now it is finnished. It was dime and i cleaned it with a dime-cleaner and a narrow wooden device.
I think it was on the skull before (under the dirt) and the reason could be the lying in the ground. I have read that in some cases dime can resist after lying for a long time in wet ground.
Much work for such a simple Pz skull but it was worth all efforts, because you dont find this special kind of Pz Skull very often.Comment
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Congratulations on working this one out! It's always great to have a happy ending to these stories. More often than not, we're not so lucky.
Chris
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