Cleaning an RAD brooch

[haubeman]

I have a very nice (but very common) RAD brooch. (I say common as I have seen a lot of them with dealers, etc.) I do not have any expertise with these kinds of things and cannot tell you the metal from which it is made, other than to say it is "silver" in appearance. At one time, it may have had a shine to it but now it is essentially flat; i.e., no shine. It is a pin back.

On the front, among some of the grain sheaves, is what appears to be a small bit of white "stuff" which I believe to be paint. I have tried gently to scrape it out with no luck.

Does anyone have suggestions about cleaning an RAD brooch? Thank you all very much.

[Anthony T]

Probably corrosion rather then paint. Alot of these medals are low grade metal such as zink. Sorry but I have no experiance cleaning items.

[Paul R.]

Why run a risk on damaging your item. By trying to clean your item you are changing an historical item. Weather paint or not by scraping away at it you may be causing further damage. Of course it’s your item to do as you see fit. By damaging it you now cut any value in half.

Sorry no offence here.
I don’t get the obsession with people trying to make things pretty. After all there was a war going on back then.

[schönbeck]

corrosion is not war made. Its a good thing preventing it to spread if possible.

[Stahlhelm]

In most cases, cleaning corrosion from militaria will give you nothing but a headache and a strong case of regret. Once done, it is impossible to undo it. I can only think of a handful of cases where cleaning corrosion worked out for the best. For one, you will generally not see the finish you expect beneath, since the the corrosion has typically long since eaten or pushed it off (as with zinc pest, for example). You will, at best, only see the darker metal beneath, which will often be no less aesthetically-pleasing than the corrosion you removed. In some cases, ironically, light coatings of zinc pest, which have eaten away a nickel-silver plating will mask and soften the darker appearance of the metal beneath. I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. In some cases the corrosion may even make a piece look as good as it can, under the circumstances. I know this, because I've seen it, for example, on more than one nickel-plated Luftwaffe qualification badge. I've seen more than one collector want to kick himself in the backside for messing with it.

It's a serious crapshoot messing with a piece of militaria, and you must evaluate every piece individually and proceed only with the greatest caution. I know I'm speaking in a lot of generalities here, but without any photos of the effected piece, I really can't be any more specific.

In any case, I do hope I've helped you think about this a bit better, at least.

Good luck, be careful, and think long and hard before doing anything!

Chris

P.S. You will probably not meet anyone who is more of a nut about conservation. (Although Paul R. may argue with me about that. ) While I don't know everything, I know what I know only from hard and sometimes regretful experience, rather than from guesswork or just thinking about it.

[Paul R.]

P.S. You will probably not meet anyone who is more of a nut about conservation. (Although Paul R. may argue with me about that. ) While I don't know everything, I know what I know only from hard and sometimes regretful experience, rather than from guesswork or just thinking about it.

I agree with Chris 110% well said. I think he was a conservator in another life, but will not admit it!

[Stu W]

Hello haubeman,

I see you are not an Association Member so not able to post pics. If you PM me with your email address we can communicate further and I'll post them for you. Until then it's really just guesswork as to the issue and any possible solutions.

Regards,
Stu