Cleaning hot stamp chips (1 Viewer)

[allforcharity]

I have left a hot stamped chip with partially-degraded foil in the ultrasonic cleaner in Red Devil metasilicate detergent for over 30 minutes, at least 10 of which were when the machine was running. No (additional) degradation to the foil stamp. I did this as a test somewhere in the early days of my Cal-Neva roulette distribution, and there were over 8000 of those that needed intense cleaning - 2-3 minutes per batch, significantly more than "normal".

 

[Taghkanic]

Anyone had any experience cleaning up those Tropicana 3rd edition chips?

The chips seem to be mint for the most part. However, because of the way they were stored or because of the fact they are oooold, some of them have a little bit of a weird gunk on them, not the typical HJ from use. It might even be some sort of glue, idk. It would be awesome if the UC could get rid of that stuff and at the same time, kipping the stamping intact.

No experience with that particular chip, but I think an experimental, careful process is the way to proceed regardless.

Do you have a lot of them? If it’s just a barrel or two, I would first try hand-cleaning them (say with dish soap, or toothpaste/toothbrush, or both in succession). If that doesn’t do the trick or you have multiple racks to clean, I’d proceed to the next step.

If a lot, then I would experiment on a few chips with warm water baths with small concentrations of Lundmark TSP. Since these are pretty amazing chips, I’d be take a cautious apporach. Try a handful very diluted (15 cups water : 1 teaspoon of Lundmark), two minutes with agitation. If those are unharmed but need more cleaning, bump it up to 10:1. I seldom go more concentrated than 8:1. Again, just a few at a time... And again I recommend just using either a wood spoon in a bowl or small sink, or a salad spinner once you're ready to do a rack at a time.

Then of course you could graduate to an ultrasound, taking a similar approach.

 

[ChaosRock]

No experience with that particular chip, but I think an experimental, careful process is the way to proceed regardless.

Do you have a lot of them? If it’s just a barrel or two, I would first try hand-cleaning them (say with dish soap, or toothpaste/toothbrush, or both in succession). If that doesn’t do the trick or you have multiple racks to clean, I’d proceed to the next step.

If a lot, then I would experiment on a few chips with warm water baths with small concentrations of Lundmark TSP. Since these are pretty amazing chips, I’d be take a cautious apporach. Try a handful very diluted (15 cups water : 1 teaspoon of Lundmark), two minutes with agitation. If those are unharmed but need more cleaning, bump it up to 10:1. I seldom go more concentrated than 8:1. Again, just a few at a time... And again I recommend just using either a wood spoon in a bowl or small sink, or a salad spinner once you're ready to do a rack at a time.

Then of course you could graduate to an ultrasound, taking a similar approach.

Yeah, 8 racks of them, LOL! So cleaning one by one is not an option unfortunately. If nothing works, maybe when they are in play they clean up little by little.

Great suggestion above FOR SURE! Thank you!

I do have an extra barrel I can experiment with. I always try to keep an extra barrel for replacement but honestly, I only need a handful.

 

[Esmerelda]

What else can you use rather than a magic eraser? Is a soft toothbrush too hard?

 

[Okku]

What else can you use rather than a magic eraser? Is a soft toothbrush too hard?

I'd suggest using a tooth brush to go around the hot stamp. Not so much on the actual hot stamp but if you do, only really lightly or using your finger with some cleaning aid will help too. I've learned the hard way unfortunately but we all learn every day.

 

[Esmerelda]

Thank you!

 

[Colquhoun]

What else can you use rather than a magic eraser? Is a soft toothbrush too hard?

A natural bristle nail brush...the type with the wood handle makes the job SO much easier than a toothbrush, especially if you are cleaning a large quantity of chips.

 

[davislane]

@fishsaybloop

 

[Taghkanic]

Some months ago, I posted a question on another thread about cleaning hotstamped suits mold chips (PCRs to be exact). Does anyone have any experience cleaning suits molds? I’m concerned partly about the hotstamps, but also the base colors/edgespots.

I use Lundmark faux-TSP on my Paulson starburst solids, and it works beautifully as long as the stamp is in good shape. (Degraded stamps sometimes lose luster, as the Lundmark seems to work into areas where the foil is partially off the surface.)