Best way to clean a tinnie??

[Oasis1275]

I bought this tinnie recently. Its a little worse for wear. I'm new to collecting, so I'm hoping someone can give me good advice on tinnie cleaning before I wing it.
Thanks!

[Wood]

With this metal, nothing, you will loose the silver finish, try WD40 spray, or the vaseline treatment to stop/retard any corrosion.
Pete

[Martin Harding]

If at all possible.................... never ever clean a Tinnie I can see from the Picture see that your example is zinc (there are cupal versions of this particualr Badge)..............unless zinc pest is 'eating away at the badge' you would be best advised to leave the Badge in original condition
Regards Martin

[Martin Harding]

With this metal, nothing, you will loose the silver finish, try WD40 spray, or the vaseline treatment to stop/retard any corrosion.
Pete

As Pete stated above, the problem with zinc construction Badges the Silver finish eventually is absored totally in to the Zinc. And of course the additional problem is that 1930's Zinc is prone to 'zinc pest' which is in effect a metal disaease that eats away like a malignant Cancer.
I have used WD40 on occassions.......... the problem is that zinc pest can eat away from the inside of the Badge, in areas that are not visable to the eye. As mentioned above you may slow the deterioration process down, unfortunately however zinc pest in most cases is an irreversable process ...hence long term one is unable to stop the process.

[Oasis1275]

Thanks for the advice and info. I'll likely try the WD40. Would you treat the same as with the vaseline method? Coat it and let it sit for 24 hours?

[Wood]

No, just spray it. You have to reapeat the process at regular intervals though. WD 40 doesn't last. I tend to remove any excess corrosion on the reverse of badges with a scalpel (very carefully)
Pete

[Oasis1275]

Great, thanks.