I'd like to properly clean/preserve

[Joe hunter]

Not only would I like to properly clean this buckle,I would also like to properly preserve it.Any help would be appreciated.
The photos are before a soft brush and water and after.

 

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[Tpmetal]

next time wait before brushing it..... appears you maybe were too aggressive and removed most of the patina(green layer seen in first photo). Next time use distilled water and soak it, changing the water each day and very very lightly brushing when changing water. then once most of the dirt is gone that way very carefully use a tooth pick to remove dirt stuck in hard to get spots. I make sure its properly dried and apply renaissance wax if I feel its needed.

 

[Joe hunter]

I doubt I'll find another but you never know .I probably was to egressive.Should I do anything else.maybe picking away the rust or leave it ?I'm really unsure.

 

[Tpmetal]

at this point it doesnt matter much what you do with it, for my personal collection i would continues to clean the junk really well since the patina is already gone. Then I would repatina it and seal it, taking note for future reference that it was cleaned improperly in case of trying to sell it.

 

[Joe hunter]

Not selling it's for my collection how do I repatina?

 

[Joe hunter]

And thank you for being so helpful.

 

[Tpmetal]

Theres a few restoration products and also a few metal foundry products that can do this, can't remember the names of anything off the top of my head though. An internet search will help you out. No worries glad I can help, sorry i'm not more help. maybe someone else can chime in and give another opinion, as there are many schools of thought on this.

 

[Joe hunter]

I still haven't found a definitive preservation method for my buckle so I'm reposting.I have searched the internet but haven't gotten a good method.