Careful with that cleaner, Eugene! (1 Viewer)

[katmike]

Sorry for the Pink Floyd reference in the title.

So new here and also new at cleaning. I've resurrected my interest in collecting Paulson solids that started back in the 80's. So.... I recently got a batch of "yellow" chips from an unnamed source. They definitely needed a bath, so here we go. (I did already have an ultrasonic cleaner on order, but needed something to do)

Got Oxiclean and mixed about 1/2 tbsp in a saucer of hot water. Now that tells you already I'm not an "exact" kind of guy. Soaked about 3 minutes and started scrubbing with something the wife had that kind of resembled a tooth brush.... RIght away with one of the chips I noticed brownish splatters coming off the chip in the sink. I looked and sure enough the clay color was transferring after rubbing with a paper towel. I should now say I'd noticed I had at least 2 different shades of yellow in this batch. I'm guessing using the Paulson color chart, what I actually have is "mustard" and "daisy". The "mustard" chip was the one I was holding when I noticed the color transfer. Never had the issue with the daisies, but all 3 mustards exhibited this problem, so I stopped cleaning using this method. I'll wait for the ultra sonic cleaner to finish those.

So... why did this only happen with the mustards? Same water mix, same water temp, same everything..... I probably did 20 daisies with NO color transfer at all.

 

[Chile85]

Most of the suggestions on here state to use Lundmark TSP. I am new to the forum, but have recently cleaned around 2000 Paulson chips without issue utilizing it. I would also suggest shorter time frames for cleaning. Try 30 seconds and increase by 15 seconds based on how dirty the chips are. The 15 second increments make a larger difference than one might imagine. For reference, Ace Hardware carried Lundmark TSP in my region.

 

[katmike]

I thought the Lundmark TSP was for the ultrasonic bath. Even for hand cleaning?

 

[moose]

Don't use TSP on hotstamps.

 

[BGinGA]

And don't use hot water, period. If it's too hot for your hands to submerge, it's too hot for clay chips.

Pics would be helpful on the 'mustard splatter' issue. Before, after, and/or during.

 

[katmike]

Well I may have done just about everything wrong....

I've already cleaned the splatter, but I do have a pic of the paper towel showing the carnage.... might be hard to tell. Also showing showing the chips edge on. Mustard (I'm calling it mustard but may be another Paulson color) is on the left. The daisy(?) colored one on the right. The last pic shows 2 mustard and one daisy for comparison. Middle one seems to have more damage. They may be cleaner, but now I think I aged the stamp 30 years. Rookie mistake. But again, the "daisies" did not show any transfer.
EDIT: I think it's butter scotch, not mustard. Not sure why I was thinking mustard.

 

[Chile85]

Don't use TSP on hotstamps.

Can you elaborate on this? Is the thought that TSP will remove the hot stamp?

 

[moose]

Yes it does.

 

[Chile85]

Yes it does.

Ok, that's good to know. For what it's worth, I cleaned 300+ hot stamps in 106° with 8 cups of distilled water and one tablespoon of TSP with 30 second exposure and did not see any wear to the hot stamps. I'm sure over time this is not good for the hot stamps, but I was unaware that TSP caused issues to the middle stamp. Pic for reference... Chips were very dry prior to bath. Top rows had not been oiled in this pic.

 

[allforcharity]

I think I may have some chips from the same source. The East coast guy on eBay who sells them 50 at a time.
Apparently these are very old chips. Might even be possible that they are Christy and Jones, not Paulson.

 

[Chile85]

I think I may have some chips from the same source. The East coast guy on eBay who sells them 50 at a time.
Apparently these are very old chips. Might even be possible that they are Christy and Jones, not Paulson.

@allforcharity These were from a fellow chipper.... I am not sure where they came from before that. I'll have to check eBay for the seller you speak of though :|

 

[katmike]

Yeah, this was a recent eBay purchase. Total 89 - mix of "yellow".

 

[BGinGA]

Apparently these are very old chips. Might even be possible that they are Christy and Jones, not Paulson.

Yeah, based on the pics (and the horrid cleaning experience), that's exactly what I was thinking. Especially the non-yellow chips.

C&J chips were manufactured by Burt Co (not Paulson), and used materials that are not compatible with TSP or Oxiclean, which quickly break down when exposed to either cleaner.

Dawn dish detergent and scrubbing with a soft-bristle brush is the only truly safe cleaning method (same as for any hot-stamped chip).

 

[katmike]

Dawn dish detergent and scrubbing with a soft-bristle brush is the only truly safe cleaning method (same as for any hot-stamped chip).

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a go....

 

[Don Clay]

Pretty cool title for this thread