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Pillar of the Community
United States
533 Posts |
I use distilled water but I suppose regular water would work as well. I use the former because I have it around for drinking and figured that I had better be safe than sorry.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Acetone, distilled water, then a final acetone rinse. No blow dryer needed, as long as you are doing this at normal room temp (72-78F) the acetone will flash off quickly.
BTW, you might want to use another word besides "dip"- that generally denotes dipping in a substance such as E-Z-EST or similar coin cleaners.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2443 Posts |
quote:
Acetone, distilled water, then a final acetone rinse. No blow dryer needed, as long as you are doing this at normal room temp (72-78F) the acetone will flash off quickly.
Why the finial acetone rinse? Isn't the purpose of the distilled water to get rid of the acetone? quote:
BTW, you might want to use another word besides "dip"- that generally denotes dipping in a substance such as E-Z-EST or similar coin cleaners.
Opps, didn't know. Changed the title, hopefully it's clearer. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
914 Posts |
> Why the finial acetone rinse? Isn't the purpose of the distilled water to get rid of the acetone?
The purpose of the distilled water is to remove the stuff the acetone took off.
The purpose of the second acetone is to remove the water.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Amazon,
To further clarify:
when I am soaking a batch of coins in acetone, I set it up assembly line style. My first acetone bath does not get changed to conserve the acetone. Yes, it accumulates gunk but it is still effective at removing organics as well. Normally, this would leave a coin contaminated but then I bathe with distilled water(in my case, reverse osmosis purified, not distilled but most do not have access to RO water) to remove any further contaminants. Finally, another clean acetone bath to remove the water.
If I only need to soak one coin, it will go into the acetone and that is it- no water. The water is not necessary to remove the acetone as acetone is a VOC(volatile organic chemical) so it will readily flash off leaving no trace provided that it is pure. If you rinse with water afterwards you run the risk of leaving water spots, even with distilled water.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
I use a small space heater to make sure they are dry. But my final step is always to hit the coin with compressed air. Blow dryers and space heaters are still taking in air from the room that may have dust in it and I don't know how well the dust filters in these things work or if they even have filters.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
quote:
To further clarify:
when I am soaking a batch of coins in acetone, I set it up assembly line style. My first acetone bath does not get changed to conserve the acetone. Yes, it accumulates gunk but it is still effective at removing organics as well. Normally, this would leave a coin contaminated but then I bathe with distilled water(in my case, reverse osmosis purified, not distilled but most do not have access to RO water) to remove any further contaminants. Finally, another clean acetone bath to remove the water.
If I only need to soak one coin, it will go into the acetone and that is it- no water. The water is not necessary to remove the acetone as acetone is a VOC(volatile organic chemical) so it will readily flash off leaving no trace provided that it is pure. If you rinse with water afterwards you run the risk of leaving water spots, even with distilled water.
Make much more sense now, thanks. |
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Valued Member
United States
65 Posts |
How long do you have to soak a moderately stained silver dollar to get all of the gunk off?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19969 Posts |
I have very, very rarely "soaked" in acetone. I normally just hold the coin (with rubber gloves) and rinse to remove any trace of water. My theory is no water, no air, no corrosion. I just ordered 100 airtites to preserve my Lincoln collection.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts |
This thread got me intrigued about the possibilities provided by acetone, so while at my friendly Wal-mart yesterday, I picked up a bottle (from the finger-nail polish section, not the aisle with tape and bandages, which is where I looked first). Then as I was checking out, I got carded. Apparently you have to be 18 to buy acetone. What is that about?  Jan |
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Member
United States
3242 Posts |
If I have to dip a coin I use eZest 1oz to a gallon of distilled water acetone will make post 1982/clad penny turn light shade of blue it ok for copper pennies. for clad penny I use olive oil and then steam them to remove the olive oil.
@ I use the blow dry on proof coin so they don't spot
I have had 20-30 proof graded by Anacs & Ngc and none have been detail as coin clean or whizzed
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
AHHH so many stories about Acetone. I've been using it for many years but usually a chemical supply house version. Do not use nail polish. Note the lable, it contains all kinds of stuff and some are perfumed so your coins will smell nice. If you use Acetone for coins it will disolve some of the junk on the coins and will stay in solution until it evaporates and that would be back on the coins. I use the Acetone, rinse with distilled water, blow dry wit hair dryer on warm setting. No possible nothing from a decent distilled water. If your distilled water leaves a spot, something is wrong. Tap water may or may not be OK depending on where your live. In most areas the water is treated with Cl or Fl or both. Not good for coins. Also, if your water goes through a water softener, not good for coins or plants.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2443 Posts |
Nevermind...  Edited by Amazon99
10/29/2007 9:35 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
quote:
Then as I was checking out, I got carded. Apparently you have to be 18 to buy acetone. What is that about?
Two possibilities. One some young people concentrate volatile organic chemicals and inhale them to get high. It is called huffing. When I was a kid they only worried about model glue. Today I have seen them card for glue, cleaning solvents, hair spray, in fact most any aerosol can, propane, butane etc. (You can also use gasoline but I've never seen anyone carded for that.) Second possibility is because acetone is used to cook crystal meth. (For that reason the Wal-Marts here have signs posted that they will not sell more than six gallons of acetone to a person per day. Six gallons? Why would the average person have ANY reason to need more than six gallons of acetone?) |
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Valued Member
United States
83 Posts |
Rinsing is one of the most important operations in coin cleaning cycle, yet when I talk to people who do cleaning probably the most neglected... and will cause poor results... your rinse water must be kept clean!!
Im sorry to say that most coins have different types of gunk on them, and really need different types of chemicals to properly remove them....this is the true difference betweeen what I am reading here "a dip" verse true correctly done coin conservation... one day when I have more time, perhaps I can write out some suggestions but did you know that in many coin cleaning applications , a pre cleaning with hot water would have significant value as a pre cleaner to remove soils, salts, dust, fumes and some lubricants... let me say that I have over the years studied this area quite a bit, and I really dont recommend the average person doing it.... with that said each type coin based on its metals would have its own cleaning agents that I would recommend.... I am not sure what you wish to "dip" but if you post more info, I might be able to add some additional info...
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Posted 10/26/2007 08:44 am
