Magic Eraser, warm water and 10 seconds (2 Viewers)

[Tommy]

I've read about many different ways to clean chips, but this way couldn't be easier.

Knock-off brand magic eraser
Barely warm water
10 seconds of very light scrubbing per chip (take 15-20 secs if the chip is real dirty)
Terry cloth to dry



Working well for me. Now I just have 140 of these to do. Should be a breeze!

 

[MikeNV79]

No soap or any cleaner?

 

[Khronic]

No soap or any cleaner?

The magic eraser is like a sponge with soap built into it.

Also thanks for the idea of using a magic eraser for chips, I never thought of it!

 

[NasAssassin]

Quite clever if I think about it, I would have just resorted to the traditional washing up liquid and a sponge method.

 

[RichMahogany]

Quite clever if I think about it, I would have just resorted to the traditional washing up liquid and a sponge method.

I've always used OxyClean in warm water to clean all my chips, not that I have that many of them. Next time I make a decent sized chip purchase I was planning on trying a magic eraser. Always heard good things about them and an electric toothbrush to get out the grime.

 

[NasAssassin]

OxyClean sounds like a pro method, coupled with the magic eraser you should be good to go.
Also using an electric toothbrush sounds genius!

 

[RichMahogany]

There's also a 2+2/CT member named Moki who bought an ultrasonic cleaner and used it on a few thousand chips with great results.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/24/home-poker/cleaning-oiling-used-chips-w-pics-1064679/

start at post #40

 

[djarum1]

Can't you just use some detergent and a toothbrush? I never thought of the magic eraser either, but the toothbrush method is how I've gone in the past.

 

[RichMahogany]

Can't you just use some detergent and a toothbrush? I never thought of the magic eraser either, but the toothbrush method is how I've gone in the past.

You CAN use detergents, but I don't recommend it. There will almost always be some color loss when soaking chips in warm water but detergents suck more of the color out than other cleaners. You can always oil them afterwards(using mineral oil only) to bring the colors out a bit more but once the color fades from detergents/cleaning it can never be fully restored.

Some have also recommended TSP in warm water to clean chips.

 

[untitled]

I'm always worried that I'll damage my chips cleaning them, gonna try your method..thank you.

 

[RetJoSek]

Holy crap I wasn't expecting it to work as well as it did. All of my set was a bit dusty and grubby from general use, but no not anymore, now they sparkle. The guys will be impressed haha

 

[bradman1313]

Good, now when my messy friends come over I'll be able to clean our chips. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Arutea]

Another easy way for me is take the spray bottle of Awesome! cleaner and spray just a bit on the chips, then grab a small cloth and start wiping them down.

 

[Jhoov2412]

I have cleaned over 10,000 casino used poker chips (slight brag, I think, maybe not considering how long it took) and I have used the same method on all of them. It is a very simple method just very time consuming. First I take 20 chips and use magic eraser to clean the dirt off the rolling edges, for some chips you may not need to do this but I find that for white chips this is a must. After cleaning the edges I fill the sink with warm water and oxi clean, dump in the chips and mix it up a little. Then let them soak for 5-10 minuets. If they have shaped inlays I wouldn't go more than 5 minuets or you might get some discolored inlays, I am not sure if this has to do with the length of time they soak or the inlays were just that dirty that they became discolored. After soaking them I would rinse them off and use a foaming hand soap and toothbrush to scrub off the remaining dirt. For the scrubbing I just hold the chip in my palm and do a couple quick circles to both sides with the toothbrush and then rinse the soap off and move to a towel. One trick I found is to cut the bristles of the toothbrush in half it works a little better as they tend to be a little more rigid. Any gunk that was really stuck in the rims or hat & canes I used a pin to get out. Be careful if you use a pin cause you can damage the chips. Afterwards I would lay them on a towel and press another towel on top to dry them and put them in front of a fan for around half hour to fully dry. The cleaning process does tend to make the chip color fade a little so you will also want to wipe each chip with mineral oil. After oiling the chips I wipe them dry with a paint rag and again place them in front of a fan to fully dry. If in front of a fan I will let them sit for around 2-3 hours and if not in front of a fan I will let them sit until the next day. I hope this helps!

 

[Tommy]

So that is how you got them Terrible's $25 so clean! Your PCA chips look great.

 

[Jhoov2412]

The Terrible's were some of the cleanest used chips I have come across and the PCA's were without a doubt the dirtiest. I believe Jim said the Terrible's were only on the tables for around 6 years or so.

 

[Alexisdv20]

Whoa never heard of that technique, look like it's working pretty well!
Thanks for sharing

 

[apriapism]

I've never tried the magic eraser, sounds like a good way to clean up the chips. I'm going to look into it.

 

[GavinMcresty]

I'm always worried that I'll damage my chips cleaning them, gonna try your method..thank you.

I had this same concern. I was mostly worried that I might make the colouring smudge or fade and then they would be ruined. I had even thought of putting aside a few chips just to test different cleaning methods on them. Then if I spoiled them, I would only have lost one or two chips rather than my whole collection. Magic Eraser sounds safe though so I am going to give this a try.

 

[NasAssassin]

I have cleaned over 10,000 casino used poker chips (slight brag, I think, maybe not considering how long it took) and I have used the same method on all of them. It is a very simple method just very time consuming. First I take 20 chips and use magic eraser to clean the dirt off the rolling edges, for some chips you may not need to do this but I find that for white chips this is a must. After cleaning the edges I fill the sink with warm water and oxi clean, dump in the chips and mix it up a little. Then let them soak for 5-10 minuets. If they have shaped inlays I wouldn't go more than 5 minuets or you might get some discolored inlays, I am not sure if this has to do with the length of time they soak or the inlays were just that dirty that they became discolored. After soaking them I would rinse them off and use a foaming hand soap and toothbrush to scrub off the remaining dirt. For the scrubbing I just hold the chip in my palm and do a couple quick circles to both sides with the toothbrush and then rinse the soap off and move to a towel. One trick I found is to cut the bristles of the toothbrush in half it works a little better as they tend to be a little more rigid. Any gunk that was really stuck in the rims or hat & canes I used a pin to get out. Be careful if you use a pin cause you can damage the chips. Afterwards I would lay them on a towel and press another towel on top to dry them and put them in front of a fan for around half hour to fully dry. The cleaning process does tend to make the chip color fade a little so you will also want to wipe each chip with mineral oil. After oiling the chips I wipe them dry with a paint rag and again place them in front of a fan to fully dry. If in front of a fan I will let them sit for around 2-3 hours and if not in front of a fan I will let them sit until the next day. I hope this helps!

View attachment 38View attachment 39

Wow, that really did do the trick for your chips I see.
You should be on television adverts trying to flog this method, just displaying that picture would rack you a lot of money! :

 

[jamerson]

Quite clever if I think about it, I would have just resorted to the traditional washing up liquid and a sponge method.

Yea I also use the traditional method to clean my chips and it works quite fine for me, but using this method makes your chip have more shine to it. I would invest in a Magic Eraser.

 

[RichMahogany]

I finally remembered to buy some Magic Erasers last time I went to the store and tried them on some chips last night. It made cleaning chips a breeze! Quick bath in Oxyclean and warm water as suggested, then a few quick swipes with the Magic Eraser and the grime comes off in no time. Much faster than Oxyclean and a toothbrush. Wish I would have tried this sooner.

Highly recommended.

 

[Lokitns]

That's pretty amazing, I'll have to try this when I get home from work later. Thanks.

 

[ReeseChip]

Very happy to find this thread and forum. Great tips! I'm going to pass them along to the guy who runs a game I play in every so often. You guys would probably die if you were to see the chips this guy uses.

 

[xxmurrxx]

Magic erasers are amazing, Only thing that sucks is how fast they break down when cleaning chips I did some last week and every time ended up with a bunch of little chunks of the eraser everywhere.

 

[Tommy]

That's true, they fall apart fast!

 

[dannyboy]

Magic erasers are a godsend. I always try to keep my poker chips as clean as possible. I have always used magic erasers and they have always produced excellent results. The method is very easy and efficient.

 

[gopherblue]

I don't advise soaking. Can ruin some types of inlays.

 

[Mr. Cheese]

Just to update this thread. Magic Eraser now has a Handy Grip style. It's got a nice rubber handle and then you can put refillable magic erasers on it. I'm going to try this next time. Should make scrubbing each side of the chip easier by having a handle.

My proposed method would be to lay down some non slip drawer liner, take 20 or so chips that just soaked in some warm dish soap water, lay them all out in a row, use the handy grip magic eraser to run magic eraser down the row of chips, flip chips over, and repeat. I think that will be easier then holding one chip at a time and rotating it in your hand while you scrub it with a regular magic eraser. That's my hypothesis at least lol.

When my next set of chips come in I'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[Tommy]

Back at it with some Aztar $500s. These were in excellent shape when I got them. Some were even uncirculated. Tight in the racks too.

Anyway, I wanted to give them all a light cleaning to prep them for some labels. This time I took 20 at a time and put them into a Dawn and warm water bath. Did not really let them soak. Started one at a time with a really soapy knock off brand magic eraser. It was a Nice! brand multi eraser. With the chip in the palm of my hand, I just did some light circle motions left and right on both sides then did the chip edge. Rinse and let dry.