Mailman left a rack of 30 yr old leaded Paulson goodness (1 Viewer)

[upNdown]

As you can see, they're in varied condition - some pretty clean, some not, and a few a bit warped. But I'm blown away at the overall condition of these chips! Apparently these quarters didn't get played much back then, or since. I mean the hot stamps aren't just intact, they're damn near perfect! Love these baby blues.
By the way, I'm pretty sure softchewy has another rack of these for sale, and you're all nuts for not buying them right damn now.

Anyway, I tried cleaning one of the dirtier ones with just warm water and dish soap and a tooth brush and it didn't get particularly clean. Keeping in mind that I don't want any of that beautiful blue to fade (and I definitely don't plan to start oiling chips) what else should I try? Different soap? Stiffer brush?

 

[DrStrange]

People had good luck with an ultra sonic cleaning when they did the Point Defiance chips.

 

[Gear]

There's some Crystal Palace $5s on eBay right now (from a PCFer if I'm not mistaken.)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Crystal-Palace-5-Paulson-Clay-Casino-Poker-Chips-/262637717208

 

[upNdown]

People had good luck with an ultra sonic cleaning when they did the Point Defiance chips.

I've read that ultrasonic cleaning fades chips, and I think I'd almost rather dirty chips than faded chips.

 

[upNdown]

There's some Crystal Palace $5s on eBay right now (from a PCFer if I'm not mistaken.)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Crystal-Palace-5-Paulson-Clay-Casino-Poker-Chips-/262637717208

Oh don't think I haven't noticed. I bought these to be quarters in a mixed cash set, and one look at those and I'm thinking maybe I need a crystal palace set.

 

[Mr. Cheese]

As long as you only keep them in the ultrasonic for 30 seconds to a minute it shouldn't fade them

 

[GoStumpy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't a lot of the 'fading' be bringing the chips back to being almost chalky new? Grease and diet over time darkens things, so the lightening is quite likely just the removal of the grime.

Then oiling the chips to get the colours to pop is the next step, no?

 

[upNdown]

You may be right. I may be lazy.
Cleaning chips seems bad enough, but justifiable labor if they're nasty. But oiling chips is something I absolutely cannot see myself doing.

 

[GoStumpy]

I just cleaned ~60 Aztar $25's, and I noticed they are a more 'faded' green than when they were dirty... but then I got them wet and the green is a gorgeous deep color that pops... oiling will do almost the same thing... so I came to the conclusion that it was the oil from fingers with the dirt making them appear darker than they actually are. Cleaning doesn't fade them, it brings them back to their original color


OR, it fades them and my conclusions are more of a deductive fallacy

 

[72o]

You may be right. I may be lazy.
Cleaning chips seems bad enough, but justifiable labor if they're nasty. But oiling chips is something I absolutely cannot see myself doing.

The oiling is the easiest and most gratifying step in the process though. Put a little pinch of oil on your fingers and rub away (the chips that is).

 

[David O]

The oiling is the easiest and most gratifying step in the process though. Put a little pinch of oil on your fingers and rub away (the chips that is).

Or if they don't like cleaning and piling please send me and @72o all of you poor dirty chips. We will even send you a self addressed MFRB to help expedite the relocation of all of your dirty chips!

 

[upNdown]

Ha. I can't imagine anybody actually likes cleaning chips, and I'm totally comfortable saying that anybody who likes oiling chips is a weirdo. But I'm willing to do the washing part. I guess I'll try something stiffer, like a nail brush.

 

[David O]

Ha. I can't imagine anybody actually likes cleaning chips, and I'm totally comfortable saying that anybody who likes oiling chips is a weirdo. But I'm willing to do the washing part. I guess I'll try something stiffer, like a nail brush.

Ha, I am sure there are many of us on here that can't wait to get the next shipment in the ultrasonic. I find it gratifying to see an old chip that was disgusting be brought back to life. I guess you can call it a labor of love!!!

I would agree though that a nailbrush sucks! Ultrasonic done correctly will turn the laborious task in to a joy and also save you time that can be used to oil the chips.

I guess you are right but I am a weirdo with very nice looking chips!!!

 

[GoStumpy]

I think there are a lot of wierdos on this forum

 

[BGinGA]

Ha. I can't imagine anybody actually likes cleaning chips, and I'm totally comfortable saying that anybody who likes oiling chips is a weirdo. But I'm willing to do the washing part. I guess I'll try something stiffer, like a nail brush.

I abhor cleaning chips (at least by hand), but oiling chips is a labor of love.

I don't plan on ever hand-cleaning chips again in my lifetime (ultrasonic is the only way to go with dirty chips), but with my preference for new/mint/near-mint chips, the opportunity for me to do so again is pretty unlikely. But even new chips can improve dramatically with a bit of oil, and a bottle of mineral oil is enough to oil many many thousands of chips (so it's a one-time purchase).

Don't knock it 'til you try it. Poker chips are little pieces of tactile art, and caressing them with a bit of oil can be surprisingly relaxing and beneficial to the soul.

 

[Gear]

I just cleaned ~60 Aztar $25's, and I noticed they are a more 'faded' green than when they were dirty... but then I got them wet and the green is a gorgeous deep color that pops... oiling will do almost the same thing... so I came to the conclusion that it was the oil from fingers with the dirt making them appear darker than they actually are. Cleaning doesn't fade them, it brings them back to their original color


OR, it fades them and my conclusions are more of a deductive fallacy

A little bit of the former, but mostly the latter.

Removing the dirt and grime does make the colors lighter, i.e. closer to their original state, but there is also definitely fading "past" that which a tiny bit of mineral oil will restore.

 

[luckbox]

i have only scrubbed thousands of chips before and dont look forward to the scrubbing again with the horseshoe buy but i have not done it in awhile, it might be fun again...not

question ....does ultrasonic do any harm to the hot stamp...i know i ruined a few over the years by scrubbing, curious with ultrasonic damage if any?

 

[David O]

i have only scrubbed thousands of chips before and dont look forward to the scrubbing again with the horseshoe buy but i have not done it in awhile, it might be fun again...not

question ....does ultrasonic do any harm to the hot stamp...i know i ruined a few over the years by scrubbing, curious with ultrasonic damage if any?

If done properly the hot stamps should come out the way the went in. I always test at least one chip prior to committing a barrel though. The last chips I did were Point Defiance chips and they came out perfectly clean with hot stamps unharmed!

David

 

[upNdown]

I tried pine-sol and an electric toothbrush this morning.
It worked pretty good, but still labor intensive. Here's one of the dirtier ones. The "clean" picture was after about 1-2 minutes of scrubbing. I'm sure if I kept scrubbing, I could get almost all the crap off, but I'm not sure 5 minutes of scrubbing, per side, makes a lot of sense.

 

[72o]

I've had really good results with just a damp magic eraser when they are that dirty. Some think it removes too much chip material but I think the results are totally worth it. YMMV

 

[GoStumpy]

Oxiclean ftw. It did in 20-30 seconds what dawn dishsoap did in 2 minutes of scrubbing

-edit-

WARNING, Oxiclean may damage hotstamps!! use at your own risk!!

 

[upNdown]

Oxiclean ftw. It did in 20-30 seconds what dawn dishsoap did in 2 minutes of scrubbing

I'm gonna try that next, when I get a chance to buy some. And a magic eraser too. I'm definitely afraid both will fade the chips, but testing those methods on a couple of chips won't kill me.

 

[MD Mike]

oiling chips is a labor of love.

Don't knock it 'til you try it. Poker chips are little pieces of tactile art, and caressing them with a bit of oil can be surprisingly relaxing and beneficial to the soul.

^^^^
This times 1000

Also people have been known to hear me behind closed doors when oiling chips saying things like,

"Oooh yeah. Nice. That's it. Right there.... Perfect."

 

[GoStumpy]

Cleaning can suck... but oiling chips takes like 2-5 minutes per barrel, so it's done pretty darn quick... and the improvement is awesome! Come out vibrant and beautiful

 

[BGinGA]

Oxiclean ftw. It did in 20-30 seconds what dawn dishsoap did in 2 minutes of scrubbing

I'm gonna try that next, when I get a chance to buy some.

WARNING: OxiClean can destroy hot-stamps.

It is a hit-and-miss venture...... sometimes no damage, other times it turns gold hot-stamp foil to silver, and sometimes it dissolves the hot-stamp completely.

NOT recommended.

 

[GoStumpy]

^^ Wow good thing you knew that, I had no idea!

 

[upNdown]

Good to know, thanks. No oxy for these.