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 Replies: 11 / Views: 2,290 |
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New Member
United States
4 Posts |
Just something I have never done (cleaning coins that is). Is washing coins with just water something that is noticable?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1571 Posts |
Off-hand, I would say NO, but, it depends on if, and what kind of soap is used. Id soap IS used, I would use the purist I could find. The Lye will do harm. It is an acid, I believe.
Having said this, I WASH my coins in boiling mineral water, with Awesome, to get rid of the oily residue. This after soaking in mineral oil for a month, to loosen the crud on the coins. NO RUBBING, PLEASE! Micron-sized dirt will leave microscopic-sized scratches. None of my coins would show this feature, due to the normal "wear-and-teat, they have gone thru, before coming into my dirty, grimy hands! There are those who will disagree, and that is their privilege. More power to them.
Dick
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New Member
 United States
4 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
If soap IS used, I would use the purist I could find. The Lye will do harm. It is an acid, I believe. Lye soap IS pure soap. Actually it is difficult to say exactly what you mean by the term "pure soap" Soap is formed by the reaction of a fat or oil with lye. Lye is Sodium Hydroxide also known as caustic soda. It is a very strong base, not an acid, and is highly corrosive. The problem with making a soap is to get the reaction to run to completion without an excess of either component left over. An excess of lye will result in a soap that actually does a little better job of cleaning, but it does so because the excess lye attacks the fatty acids on what ever is being cleaned. But it can also attack and damage the item being cleaned. To little lye though and an oily film will be left behind after the cleaning from the soap itself. Frankly for that reason you will find it is very difficult to get a true soap unless you make it yourself. The products we commonly call soap are really detergents. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
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Soap is formed by the reaction of a fat or oil with lye word of the day- Saponification |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1571 Posts |
What you say is true. I was trying to recall the name of soap I used to use. It is Ivory, 99 and44/100 pure, but don't use it on coins! I actually did mean detergents, and only the very mild ones. The awesome is one I use, and it is mostly to remove the oily residue, from the mineral oil. One can't be too carefull!. biochemist, you are, 1. A Susquipedalianist, or, 2. a fan of Bill Orielly.  Dick Edited by livingdinasaur
09/08/2009 1:44 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1415 Posts |
My cleaning regiment is: SOAKING ONLY!
For the first month I soak in 100% mineral oil. Then I rinse with distilled water to remove any excess oil. If you stop here, the coins are left with the 'oily residue'(ie. shiny appearance). I then soak again in 100 %acetone (NOT finger nail polish remover) for another month. Acetone is also known as MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone). I then set up a warm soapy bath(I use dish detergent) and quickly remove coin from acetone and rinse in soapy bath - 1 minute (acetone evaporates quickly and will leave residue, so this is the reason for the soap bath. Finally I complete by rinsing with distilled water to remove the soap.
I dry using paper towels - just contact NO RUBBING!
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
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Acetone is also known as MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) No! That is not true at all, both are ketones but they are quite different chemicals and should not be interchanged for the purpose of conserving coins. Acetone is a superior numismatic solvent to MEK(butanone)- it is miscible so it easily removes excess water from a rinsed coin and acetone will flash off much better than MEK, thus reducing the chances of residue spots. Also, pure acetone will leave no reside at all(water, even distilled, can leave spots) so either you are using the wrong solvent of your acetone is contaminated. Edited by biokemist6
09/08/2009 3:11 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
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word of the day- Saponification Thanks I knew there was a word for it that started with S but couldn't remember it. And biokemist is correct about acetone and MEK |
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New Member
United States
2 Posts |
[quote] Lye soap IS pure soap[\quote]
No, old-fashioned wood lye soap has Glycerin in it, which is good for hands and will help dissolve some oils, harmlessly. The glycerin is often removed from commercial soaps, say Ivory, for other uses.
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Rest in Peace
United States
1729 Posts |
Seems to me that we moved quickly in our discussion from a little rinsing to full-blown cleaning of coins.
I don't do anything that would alter the surface patina of a coin. I do use Goo-Gone and a toothpick to remove gummy deposits - skin oil and crud buildup from handling - which can eventually turn into a substance that can harm coins, especially those which contain some copper (bronze, brass, cupro-nickel, etc). Only on coins which have been buried and have a concrete-like buildup of dirt (like Romans) do I get more more aggressive and use a soaking in olive oil and some scraping tools to remove the deposits of dirt to reveal surface details.
Finally, my recipe for home-made lye soap - handed down from at least three generations - calls for 1 can of lye, two quarts of melted grease, one cup of ammonia, and two tablespoons of borax. Perhaps the glycerin ninefingers mentions was another ingredient in his recipe, or perhaps the grease embodies glycerin? At any rate, home-made soap would be about the LAST thing I'd choose for cleaning coins, perhaps right before steel wool, lol.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
632 Posts |
I think I've reached my capacity of learnin' stuff with this one thread. With all this talk of soap...its time for a shower.
Don't wash your coins.
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Replies: 11 / Views: 2,290 |
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Posted 09/07/2009 4:49 pm
