Cleaning Paulson Poker Chips (1 Viewer)

[PokerGuy23]

Hey Community,

I'm sure you guys have answered this question a million times...but I was wondering the best way to clean your Paulson poker chips.

 

[Nesretnika]

Good question, I just got some Paulson Chips and will be happy to get some advice about cleaning them.

 

[David O]

There are several threads in "Poker Chip Maintenance". I have found the best way is the ultrasonic method which is stacked in Poker Chip Maintenance. There are other ways that you will find there as well but for a large amount of chips this is the best way. Good Luck and happy chipping

 

[allforcharity]

No need to get an ultrasonic if you only have one small set of chips. Ultrasonics are for those of us who have to clean thousands upon thousands upon thousands of chips, usually from sales and auctions of fairly old, decades casino used, poorly stored pieces of nastiness. A little bit of light detergent, a scrub brush, and some elbow grease will be enough for many,

 

[PokerGuy23]

Thanks for the info

 

[Coyote]

By the end of this month, God willing, I 'll be in possession of 1600 dusty brand-new CPCs and 800 home-used Paulsons.
The former will just have factory dust on them, while the latter are (or are expected to be, for the part still awaited) in more or less clean condition (I have spotted only a handful of dirty chips).

What 's beyond certainty is that I 'm NOT wiping them one by one, but I think ultrasonic would be overkill, since neither of the two are really dirty.

What do I do?
Shower them under the tap, in a strainer, and let them dry on towels? How many each time in the strainer?

 

[Tadozer]

What does an ultrasonic cleaner cost? Does this help them last longer? Sorry for noob questions.

 

[upNdown]

 

[davin]

I use warm water with dawn soap and a toothbrush I do 100 chips so I don't get irritates but I soak 10 while I'm scrubbing 10 then repeat I also have a rinse bucket near by with warm water , it works perfectly fine for me

 

[Coyote]

@davin
Would you still do that (toothbrush) for just dusty new chips or visibly clean used chips?

 

[K ALL IN 9]

i made a frame that goes around a square cutting board i have that makes a lip so the chips cant slide off. I soak my chips and then place them in a single layer on the cutting board and use a nail brush or similar stiff plastic scrubbing brush to scrub about 80 chips at the same time. with this setup i can clean a rack in less than 10 mins

 

[Denali]

I use ultrasonic method most of the time, but if I am doing a few or wanting to be sure to not harm a chip with the harshness of US method I use this stuff... Sterlings ...it is amazing how well it works!

 

[ovo]

boil some water, add a cup of bleach, grab some rusty plyers to grip the chip, dunk chip in boiling bleach water for one Mississippi, two Mississippi , three Mississippi, that should do it

 

[davin]

@davin
Would you still do that (toothbrush) for just dusty new chips or visibly clean used chips?

If it's just dusty I'd just swish it around in warm dawn water

 

[allforcharity]

What does an ultrasonic cleaner cost? Does this help them last longer? Sorry for noob questions.

For something of a good size (6L), good power (160+W combined), you're probably looking at about $125-ish shipped. There are good deals on eBay, especially if you can apply an unrestricted coupon (say, 15%) that comes up from time to time. Amazon prices tend to be slightly more expensive.

As far as help chips last longer, I would say no. In fact, you have to be careful and test out if your chip will react with your chosen detergent. For the most part, Paulsons are practically indestructible in one. I have had no problems with most vintage ASMs, but a some ASMs and BCCs (and this may depend on colour) soften and lose colour very quickly in an ultrasonic. Always test before you do a big batch.

 

[xnicholsonx]

I also cleaned my small collection of Cincinnati horseshoe chips with dawn dish soap and a toothbrush. They were VERY dirty. This didn’t make these “like new” but it DEFINITELY made a huge improvement.

 

[allforcharity]

Did another batch of 1700ish Paulsons two days ago in the ultrasonic. I did notice some colour spill from a dark green coloured THC chip in the detergent batch after 90 seconds. This is the first time I've seen this with a Paulson, but have had similar experience with ASMs of a green colour. Likely something common in green dye used among manufacturers are reacting with the sodium metasilicates. No actual damage to the chips, FYI - best to keep green chips in at low time exposure, say 60 seconds. Or do the dish soap and scrubber and elbow grease for your greens only.

 

[slurpeee]

FYI: I've had both good and back luck with Oxyclean (OC) on really badly soiled Paulsons. First few batches worked great. Soaking about minutes in a batch of hot water and OC followed by a magic eraser scrub, rinse and dry. They'd look slightly washed out/bleached/faded in color when dried, but once I oiled them, the color came back, they popped and looked like new. Worked really well! Got some very good results!

Then I got a little too ambitious with a rack of blue Brementon (spelled wrong I'm sure) Lanes. I made the OC bath stronger and let them soak longer... thinking "Hey if a little is good, a lot is better.. right?...." Needless to say, just like with medicine, cheap tequila, this wasn't the case. On several chips I got bleached out what spots on the rims. Think like when you splash a drop of bleach on a colored piece of clothing.

Moral: If using OC, proceed carefully. But when used carefully, it can be a very effective cleaner.... but be careful!

 

[Mangatang]

Here's a pic of some hand-washed chips vs. what they look like straight from the casino. All I used was some warm water, dawn dish liquid, and an old tooth brush. (Don't forget to scrub the full edge around each chip.) I wouldn't want to do it this way for 1000's of chips, but for just a rack or so, it's no problem.

 

[allforcharity]

Another 1500 Paulsons went through the ultrasonic today. Again, some bleed from the "Forest Green" chips into the detergent bath at 2 minutes per batch. However, the chips do not look faded at all. I'm guessing, at least for this colour, that the chip itself is very saturated with the green dye, and even if a bit leeches out the chip will not look worse for wear.
However, I still recommend limiting your greens to 60 seconds in the ultrasonic. Green ASMs and CPCs I would consider not using metasilicate and instead do by hand with a brush and soap.

 

[sir bluffs alot]

First attempt at cleaning. Happy the way they turned out.

 

[sir bluffs alot]

First attempt at cleaning. Happy the way they turned out.View attachment 201960

@MegaTon44 I’m bringing over the other 400 to take a spin in your “washing machine”...

 

[The Cranberry Canary]

First attempt at cleaning. Happy the way they turned out.View attachment 201960

May I ask what method you used?

 

[sir bluffs alot]

May I ask what method you used?

Two minutes in oxy and dawn. Light scrub with brush, then magic eraser, then rinse and dry.

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

i made a frame that goes around a square cutting board i have that makes a lip so the chips cant slide off. I soak my chips and then place them in a single layer on the cutting board and use a nail brush or similar stiff plastic scrubbing brush to scrub about 80 chips at the same time. with this setup i can clean a rack in less than 10 mins

but what about the edges?

 

[allforcharity]

Another 600 chips in the ultrasonic tonight. Next week, approximately another 1700. Addiction level: SEVERE.

 

[Mtvernonbryan]

First attempt at cleaning. Happy the way they turned out.View attachment 201960

is it just me or did the yellow spots turn white?

 

[allforcharity]

is it just me or did the yellow spots turn white?

It's just you They remain yellow, although a nice clean yellow and not a disgusting cigarette stain yellow

 

[K ALL IN 9]

but what about the edges?

I'll do the edges first by the barrel

 

[FuzzyIce]

I have a set of Paulson "Le Noir's" that have been used in a weekly home game for several years that are showing some color transfer on the red chips. Will a general cleaning and light scrubbing remove the color transfer or is there some other method that works better to remove color transfer on poker chips?