New to Cleaning...

[civilman1]

Does the olive oil work on aluminum or bad idea.Any suggestion'sThank's

[Jeffro]

Olive oil is not a "cleaner", it will not harm anything that I am aware of. What it does is loosens the dirt and crud, without harming the metal. It has not damaged anything I have put in it. This is probably the safest method besides a water soak.

[Nana40]

I have those two tax tokens soaking in olive oil. I think they are aluminum. Every couple of days I take a tooth pick and scribble around on the bad spots. They seem to be getting a little better.

[suffolkboy]

Dunk all your copper and bronze coins/artefacts in a pot of petroleum jelly (as long as they are not flecked in verdigris) after first washing them in boiling water to nutrilise the ground salts.After 10-14 days,take 'em out and wipe all the excess off with a cloth.Voila,one piece with a darker,attractive,smooth hue,which can be removed by rinsing it under the hot tap if need be.
Betya wont though!

[Michigan Badger]

Olive oil cleaning is debated on the Ancient Coin Forum but generally most say it does no harm to any metal. There are those who claim it can deposit certain elements in the pores of the metal that may not be good in the long haul.

So, if you plan to keep your coins for 100 years you may want to reconsider

I clean mainly copper and bronze coins/tokens so I use either olive oil or lye bath (German Bath) myself.

With aluminum I'd stay with oil or water soaks. Also, be very careful about polishing aluminum. I just ruined a $100 aluminum token by trying to polish it. You can very easily cause ultra fine scratches by polishing. Mild soap and water is all I'd use now on aluminum.

M. Badger