Pewter cufflink. Need cleaning/preserving advice

[Darby]

Found this yesterday and it appears to be pewter. Still had the connector piece on back but unfortunately not the other cufflink. Can't make out any detail in the center and afraid to clean it. Also heard elmers glue to preserve it but not sure. Any advice as always will be greatly appreciated! Thanks and HH!

 

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[sutphin]

DONT TAKE THIS FOR AN ANSWER I USE PURE LEMON JUICE DELUTED WITH WATER AND A Q TIP OR TOOTH PICK NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ,TO MUCH LEMON CONCENTRATE IS ACID AND IT WILL DESTROY YOUR FIND. BUT WAIT AND SEE WHAT THE PROS KNOW REALLY KNOWLEGABLE BUNCH ON THIS SITE,VANZUTPHEN

 

[Davers]

That's a very nice one.
It would worry me to death on how to Clean/preserve that one.
More Xanax I guess. lol

 

[jdsly]

Cleaned my pewters with a little aluminum jelly and coated with 50/50 elmers glue and water......nice cufflink Darby

 

[Darby]

DONT TAKE THIS FOR AN ANSWER I USE PURE LEMON JUICE DELUTED WITH WATER AND A Q TIP OR TOOTH PICK NEVER HAD A PROBLEM ,TO MUCH LEMON CONCENTRATE IS ACID AND IT WILL DESTROY YOUR FIND. BUT WAIT AND SEE WHAT THE PROS KNOW REALLY KNOWLEGABLE BUNCH ON THIS SITE,VANZUTPHEN

Thanks vanzutphin. Learned my lesson early about lemon juice with a surface find before I started detecting. It was a beautiful oval button with the Prince of Welch seal on it. Soaked it too long and it ruined it, not one bit if detail left on it! Won't ever make that mistake again! Thanks for your reply. Thanks also to Davers and jdsly. Would love to clean it and reveal some more detail but will be extra careful not to ruin it.

 

[Honeyman]

I'm still new to cleaning my finds, but do have a lot of experience with pewter clarinet keys. DO NOT BUFF OR POLISH WITH A MOTORIZED BUFFING SET UP! The small amount of heat that buffing or polishing will generate from friction is enough to melt the pewter! Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience. Early in my musical instrument repair carreer I melted an impossible to replace vintage Peddler clarinet key.

 

[Darby]

I'm still new to cleaning my finds, but do have a lot of experience with pewter clarinet keys. DO NOT BUFF OR POLISH WITH A MOTORIZED BUFFING SET UP! The small amount of heat that buffing or polishing will generate from friction is enough to melt the pewter! Unfortunately, I know this from personal experience. Early in my musical instrument repair carreer I melted an impossible to replace vintage Peddler clarinet key.

Thanks Honeyman. I definitely wouldn't try that! I'll probably just leave as is and try the Elmers glue trick to preserve it. Thanks for your reply

 

[Ahab8]

Man I really like that find bud. I would leave it as is. It may actually accentuate the details a bit when you coat it. Please post a pic after you do. Great find

 

[Vino]

Thanks Honeyman. I definitely wouldn't try that! I'll probably just leave as is and try the Elmers glue trick to preserve it. Thanks for your reply

Lite brushing with toothbrush ,and 50 50 mix of elmers.
Great find and save

 

[Patriot Relics]

I'll throw in my 2 cents Darby- I've dug a ton of pewter relics in SC and found that less is always more with old pewter. Light tooth brushing with dish soap and water, let dry until the surface turns towards grey and then I coat with a thin layer of briwax to seal it. If during cleaning it beings to turn brown stop and seal immediately with 50/50 elmers or it will soon become dust.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[Darby]

Thanks Ahab, Vino, VMI and I DIG IT. Appreciate y'all's input. Cleaned it last night and will put the 50/50 elmers on it today. Will post pic later. Thanks again!

 

[rodarian]

Great find and save. Good luck with the preserving.

 

[Darby]

Thanks rodarian. Here are some pics after light cleaning and 50/50 Elmers glue and water sealer.
Thanks for looking!

 

[Erik in NJ]

So which method did you end up using to clean it? Thanks.

 

[Darby]

Hey Erik. I lightly cleaned it with a toothbrush and a dish soap. After that I gave it a quick brush with aluminum jelly (maybe 30 seconds). Let it dry and applied the 50/50 water and Elmers glue. Was sure hoping the cleaning would reveal some detail in the middle but doesn't look like anything was there. Cool find anyway! Thanks

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thanks. It looks good. I have had success too with quick applications of aluminum jelly on a number of items. I'm hesitant to try it on the flag I just found (because it might destroy the paint) but I will try it on the little horse figure. It does seem to cut through the caked on old dirt etc. that's so tough to remove pretty well.