What Container Do You Use For Acetone Baths, And What Removal Tool?

Quite the array of containers and extractors! I am a little surprised at how many of you guys use your fingers to extract coins. How do you avoid getting little partial fingerprints near the edge?

This, plus, handling by the edge helps.

I really dislike tongs, gloves, anything that gets in the way. I am a klutz. I do not want to add anything to help that along.

Also, did I mention that I moisturize? Dermal exposure to acetone makes it mandatory.

Throw a couple of glass marbles in the bottom of the glass dish, shot glass, whatever, so you don't have the coin happen to land flat to the bottom or side. Makes it much easier to fish out with bare fingers or nitrile gloves.

Not a bad idea.

Just before coin extraction I wash my hands real well and dry with a fresh towel. Plus I think I have pretty thin fingers....compared to most other people. What... 10 + years of doing this and I haven't seen any prints left on coins.

The first time I considered trying Acetone, I went looking for thread like this. I ended up experimenting, trial and error.

I use those little white "antique" pond creme jars that I found while bottle hunting. Minimize waste of acetone by going as small as possible. Place something over the jar to slow the evaporation. Do it in the patio where there is plenty of ventilation. Thank you to all who contributed their tips.

Gloves: Don't use nitrile gloves, unless the nitrile rubber they're made of is different from the nitrile rubber in the gloves at my lab. Those things dissolve in acetone pretty quick. Please test it first before starting off with any coins, and if the gloves disintegrate or get sticky, don't use them with acetone.

Container: anything glass or ceramic that you're not planning to use for human consumption afterwards. Lids are redundant for me as a soak never lasts more than a minute.

Grabber: fingies for me too. I don't trust any gloves not to be acetone-soluble, and I don't trust tongs to not scratch the coins (if made of metal) or be acetone-soluble (if coated with some kind of plastic or rubber).

Location: would seriously recommend not doing it in a regular basement, or anywhere else that's poorly ventilated. If you wouldn;t slosh gasoline around int he same space, don;t use acetone there. If you've got some kind of fume/dust extraction, or even just a good flow-through fan and plenty of open windows, it's not an issue. I always use the bathroom, with the ceiling ventilation switched on.

I once had one of those painted ASEs.

I ended up using a Pampered Chef glass bowl with a lid and the marbles.

It took a year in acetone (changed it every couple of months and did some agitation) to finally get the last bits off.