Cleaning the Horseshoes by hand (1 Viewer)

Yep that's about my result too - a rack an hour and a nice activity to do with a TV show I'm half interested going in the background. I do have access to a small ultrasonic and I might consider running the $1s through; the cross hatching is still pretty good on those so they take a lot of scrubbing to do right. Otherwise it was pretty much cruising.
 
Here's some roulettes cleaned by hand as well. These were dirtier than the $5s I cleaned. I honestly didn't know if the grooves were supposed to be the color of the chip or black...

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Nice pics! Any concerns with the labels being submerged like that? Could the roulettes go into an ultrasound machine safely?
 
iballman said:
Nice pics! Any concerns with the labels being submerged like that? Could the roulettes go into an ultrasound machine safely?
Click to expand...

The total amount of time they were submerged was under 6 minutes. I tried it first with 1 chip for 5 minutes in the soapy water, plus no more than 1 minute in the "clean" (not for long) water.

I made careful note of the condition of the entire chip including the inlay before and after and noticed no change. I did the same with 1 more chip for about 8 minutes total and also noticed no change. After that I took the plunge with the rest.

I dropped a barrel of 20 in, let them soak for 3 minutes, pulled 10 out in a stack, lightly brushed the edges, then cleaned each face individually. After I cleaned a chip I put it in the clean water. After the 10 chips were in the clean water I'd pull them all out, quickly wipe each one off then lay them out to dry. Then repeat with the other 10 in the soapy water (and drop a new barrel in after.)
 
iballman said:
Nice pics! Any concerns with the labels being submerged like that? Could the roulettes go into an ultrasound machine safely?
Click to expand...
I've had no issues cleaning my roulettes - they actually seem to clean rather quickly by hand if given a 2-3 minute soak. I've thought about doing some by ultrasonic but haven't done so yet. The various ultrasonic threads on here have indicated that not only does it work on Bud Jones Roulettes but they sometimes take a bit longer than standard Paulsons.

I may have to break down and see for myself tomorrow.
 
This has been said over and over, but I can't believe how filthy these $500s are.

At least I have something to do tonight! I may invest in some gloves.

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I think everyone gets the point that I am cleaning mine by hand, so I'll bow out of posting photos here until they're all done. These are my favorites so far though, they really pop after a good scrubbing.

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After cleaning my roulettes, I have learned that things go much easier the warmer the water is. My tap water can run pretty warm and the first 15 minutes are fantastic...and then more scrubbing is required as it becomes room temperature. Found the same results in the ultrasonic.

Bring the heat!
 
  • [QUOTE="iballman, post: 298941, member: 649" cleaning my roulettes, I have learned that things go much easier the warmer the water is. My tap water can run pretty warm and the first 15 minutes are fantastic...and then more scrubbing is required as it becomes room temperature. Found the same results in the ultrasonic.

Bring the heat![/QUOTE]

I agree with this 100%. Also for the paulsons. I found that water almost so warm i could barely keep my hands in there was prwtty optimal.
 
I bought a small container of OxiClean to clean the $1s, and I'm probably never going back to not using it when hand cleaning chips.

That being said, I'm very tired of hand cleaning chips. Only a few hundred more to go :oops:
 
btbmason said:
That being said, I'm very tired of hand cleaning chips. Only a few hundred more to go :oops:
Click to expand...
LOL I hear you. The only reason I hand cleaned this particular set is I specifically did not want them to be spotless. Otherwise it's in to the ultrasonic they go. I did ultrasonic the roulettes though since for the most part clean was binary with those BJs. Either the crap was taken out of each of the radial lines or it wasn't.
 
DJ Mack said:
LOL I hear you. The only reason I hand cleaned this particular set is I specifically did not want them to be spotless. Otherwise it's in to the ultrasonic they go. I did ultrasonic the roulettes though since for the most part clean was binary with those BJs. Either the crap was taken out of each of the radial lines or it wasn't.
Click to expand...

I tried to ultrasonic my roulette and it did not clean them entirely so I was forced to clean by hand. If you haven't cleaned 1000 chips by hand... You really haven't lived. :)
 
iballman said:
I tried to ultrasonic my roulette and it did not clean them entirely so I was forced to clean by hand. If you haven't cleaned 1000 chips by hand... You really haven't lived. :)
Click to expand...
I found that with the roulettes the usual salad spinner method didn't work as well. My ultrasonic has a wire tray with legs I can drop in so I did about 25 chips at a time and used a plastic spatula to mix them. I ran for 75 seconds and continually flipped the pile like I was flipping burgers. By about the fifth load I was doing it all on feel because the water was completely cloudy.
 
DJ Mack said:
I found that with the roulettes the usual salad spinner method didn't work as well. My ultrasonic has a wire tray with legs I can drop in so I did about 25 chips at a time and used a plastic spatula to mix them. I ran for 75 seconds and continually flipped the pile like I was flipping burgers. By about the fifth load I was doing it all on feel because the water was completely cloudy.
Click to expand...

I have a smaller ultrasonic that doesn't fit a salad spinner. I just swish them around with a toothbrush and they get just as clean too. How often do you change the water? I changed it 2 times over about 1500 chips.
 
moojersey said:
I have a smaller ultrasonic that doesn't fit a salad spinner. I just swish them around with a toothbrush and they get just as clean too. How often do you change the water? I changed it 2 times over about 1500 chips.
Click to expand...
I don't go by a fixed number. Once the water starts foaming excessively it's time just because it's making a mess. On completely nasty chips that could be 600 but if they're relatively clean I've easily gone twice that.

You'll find anecdotal evidence that dirty water cleans better and I agree. After a water change the first couple hundred might take 90 seconds or more, but once the water is filthy I'm seeing them come out done in 60. When the water is brand new cleaning is by cavitation alone. Once it's dirty you've got crap floating around which not only assists with physical agitation but tends to attract similar crap. Kind of like using tape to remove tape residue from something.
 
That's definitely stiffer than you need. You MIGHT be okay with anything that isn't wire, and I suppose you could take a good picture of a chip, work on it with the brush, then compare it to the picture, to see if there's any damage, but my recommendation would be to just get another brush.
I use a dish brush like this, and very rarely have to use the shorter, stiffer bristles.
image.jpg
 
I saw a post about OCD here. You think you guys obsess over chips? You're debating two or three cleaning products and processes. Go to a firearm forum and search "gun cleaning" or "gun oil". You're computer is likely to implode. The discussions on the chemical breakdowns, tolerance for temperatures (that none of those guys will ever be exposed to), and on and on. Gun oil? MOBIL1, problem solved and cheaper by the gallon than anything else those guys are using.

One thing about TSP, it also gets off nicotine. Dawn probably won't do that. That said, the recent casino chips probably don't have much nicotine, unless they are from a private seller who smoked. Greased Lightning is another great cleaner. Some of these cleaners, like Spray Nine will kill HIV, so if that cleanliness is important to you, Dawn won't get that done either. I think Greased Lightning is similar to Spray Nine. I know it's never harmed any items that I've cleaned with it and it works well.
 
I can't believe it, but I find myself cleaning horseshoes again.
When I bought my chips, I went with all primary's, except I got secondary hundreds, just because they were so cool looking.
I just traded my 60 secondary hundreds for a rack of primary hundreds, and it honestly never occurred to me that if be getting dirty chips.
They arrived today, casino filthy, so here I sit, scrubbing.
 
I am cleaning by hand with Dawn Dishsoap and just hot water got myself a pair of gloves I do a barrel at a time sucks takes about a minute a chip give or take never used a ultrasonic and never used TSP to clean anything

this process sucks though lol I have alot of chips to clean I need to find a better way

the $1s and $500s are by far the worst chips to clean by hand
 
Took many hours to clean over 1000 HSCs in the last few months and tried many methods:
  • Dawn in Warm Water
  • Baking Soda in Warm Water
  • OxyClean Packets in Warm Water
Through all of it, though, I learned that utilizing my electric toothbrush with a firm bristle head was by far the best way to do the scrubbing. I have a few more racks coming my way, so methinks this is the perfect time to try the TSP. Glad I found this thread!
 
I've been cleaning my HS Cincinnati's by first soaking them in warm soapy dawn water for about 3 minutes. I then use a toothbrush or sponge to clean off the dirt and grime, depending on how dirty the chip is. The process seems to be going very well, but after I soak the $5s, the water turns pinkish-red. This doesn't seem to happen to the other chips. Has anyone else experienced this and how concerned do you think I should be?
 
Isn't it interesting how there's a million ways to clean chips and everybody is generally satisfied with their chosen method?
 

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