Super Scrubber vs Electric Toothbrush vs Ultrasonic? (1 Viewer)

[mnebesny]

So I have a load of chips clean, including some with pretty bad rack-checks, and some with lots of hooker gunk. Not enough chips to bother buying an ultrasonic.

I've seen some people who have had some success with a Super Scrubber, but it looks like these are only available in the US, and by the time I imported one and paid all the shipping and tax, it'd cost me close to $50. So, is a cheap electric toothbrush that's really available here just as good? Is it worth the $50 to get a Super Scrubber? Or should I just go all in and get an ultrasonic?

I tried cleaning a couple with dishsoap and a dish-washing brush, but it took a long time and I still needed a magic eraser to get rid of the last bit of the rack checks. I don't really want to have to do this to all of them, especially the magic eraser as even though I only used it a tiny bit where it was really needed, it still wore down the clay very slightly. What options do I have for getting rid of the rack check marks? Is there a cleaning product that works better without wearing the chips as much?

Here's an example of what I'm dealing with (not all of the chips are this bad):

 

[buzzmonkey]

 

[mnebesny]

View attachment 877564

What's that?

 

[buzzmonkey]

What's that?

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...stards-february-13-20-2022.77809/post-1772615

 

[Shaggy]

So you have a “load” of chips to clean… but not enough for an ultrasonic? How many chips do you have to clean.

You can clean 1000 chips an hour conservatively with an ultrasonic.

Before getting an ultrasonic, I cleaned a few thousand chips with oxiclean and a dish scrub brush… over the course of several years.

After getting an ultrasonic, I usually wait until I gave at least 400 chips to clean before I break out the US.

If you have around 400 chips to clean, I’d jump in to the US. Less than that, I’d probably still get the US. No desire to manually clean chips anymore.

 

[Shaggy]

Additionally, the US won’t do a great job on rack check marks… you may still need to use the magic eraser on those.

 

[upNdown]

Have you tried soaking them in TSP or TSP substitute first? I mean, I'm guessing you haven't, because that kind of filth pretty much falls right off after a soak in that.

 

[mnebesny]

So you have a “load” of chips to clean… but not enough for an ultrasonic? How many chips do you have to clean.

You can clean 1000 chips an hour conservatively with an ultrasonic.

I only have a couple hundred

 

[BearMetal]

Ultrasonic also doesn't do such a great job with color transfer. It's really great for getting dirt out of crevices and on the surface, but rack checks and color transfer probably needs the human touch.

 

[mnebesny]

I've seen some people who have had some success with a Super Scrubber

@Eloe2000 , you have one of these, right?

 

[Eloe2000]

@Eloe2000 , you have one of these, right?

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

 

[Bluegrass Poker]

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

View attachment 877811View attachment 877812

How does a chip get that dirty? OMG.

 

[philhut]

What's that?

wanna borrow a 6L ultra sonic? got collateral? So far its only been used for chips so a good time to still use for chips before it meets cosmoline for the first time.

 

[gopherblue]

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

View attachment 877811View attachment 877812

Wtf is on that Park Place chip?!? I’ve never seen that kind of gross. And I cleaned these…

 

[Highli99]

Have you tried soaking them in TSP or TSP substitute first? I mean, I'm guessing you haven't, because that kind of filth pretty much falls right off after a soak in that.

100% this. Warm bath with some TSP and all you need is a regular toothbrush. A couple hundred done fast.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

Ultrasonic also doesn't do such a great job with color transfer. It's really great for getting dirt out of crevices and on the surface, but rack checks and color transfer probably needs the human touch.

What does work on color transfer? Dark Blue on Off-White to be exact in my case.

 

[BearMetal]

What does work on color transfer? Dark Blue on Off-White to be exact in my case.

I have yet to find a chemical that works on color transfer. To date, my best solution has been Magic Eraser. I know, I know, ME is usually a last resort, but it does take care of color transfer pretty well. And if you're gentle, the cross hatching isn't really affected too much.

 

[TX_Golf_N_Poker]

I have yet to find a chemical that works on color transfer. To date, my best solution has been Magic Eraser. I know, I know, ME is usually a last resort, but it does take care of color transfer pretty well. And if you're gentle, the cross hatching isn't really affected too much.

Magic eraser only reduced it some - maybe 50%. And there was noticeable wear to the chip. So I guess I'm stuck with permanent color transfer...

 

[Machine]

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

View attachment 877811View attachment 877812

I recently took Eloe's advise, it worked well for me!

 

[toothpic]

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

View attachment 877811View attachment 877812

Do you presoak before a scrub? If so what do you mix to presoak and for how long?

 

[Eloe2000]

Do you presoak before a scrub? If so what do you mix to presoak and for how long?

Yes. For modern Paulsons 10min+. Large tablespoon in warm water in a bowl big enough for a barrel or two.

 

[Machine]

Yes. For modern Paulsons 10min+. Large tablespoon in warm water in a bowl big enough for a barrel or two.

Do you use toothpicks? asking for @toothpic

 

[toothpic]

I actually do on THC that have gunk stuck between the grooves

 

[upNdown]

Yes. For modern Paulsons 10min+. Large tablespoon in warm water in a bowl big enough for a barrel or two.

I haven't experimented with lower concentrations such as you suggest. I've only worked with heavier concentrations. But I can tell you with certainty that heavier concentrations will fade paulsons (at least the older leaded ones I've worked with) noticeably and irreparably in less than ten minutes. I'm not trying to tell you you're doing it wrong, I'm just warning anybody to do some testing before you dump a bunch of colored chips into oxiclean.

 

[Eloe2000]

I actually do on THC that have gunk stuck between the grooves

I would start with 10min on the first barrel. Someone else was doing like two baths of 30min each, but I found 10-15min was enough for me and this stuff is pretty hardcore.

 

[Eloe2000]

I haven't experimented with lower concentrations such as you suggest. I've only worked with heavier concentrations. But I can tell you with certainty that heavier concentrations will fade paulsons (at least the older leaded ones I've worked with) noticeably and irreparably in less than ten minutes. I'm not trying to tell you you're doing it wrong, I'm just warning anybody to do some testing before you dump a bunch of colored chips into oxiclean.

Do you recall what the faded chips were? I am curious if they were older Paulsons. I haven’t experienced any fading but some did dry out a bit and needed some oil.

 

[upNdown]

Do you recall what the faded chips were? I am curious if they were older Paulsons. I haven’t experienced any fading but some did dry out a bit and needed some oil.

As I said, I've only worked with oxiclean on leaded Paulsons, so yes, they were older. I have a post somewhere on PCF showing a Crystal Palace $5 (red chip from the late '70) turn almost pink. And oiling afterward doesn't fix it. I even noticed it fading the gray spots on the older Rio THC $1s. And I saw it on some Hroseshu $1's (blue spots) - so I have noticed it across colors, but yes, only on leaded paulsons.

 

[upNdown]

As I said, I've only worked with oxiclean on leaded Paulsons, so yes, they were older. I have a post somewhere on PCF showing a Crystal Palace $5 (red chip from the late '70) turn almost pink. And oiling afterward doesn't fix it. I even noticed it fading the gray spots on the older Rio THC $1s. And I saw it on some Hroseshu $1's (blue spots) - so I have noticed it across colors, but yes, only on leaded paulsons.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cleaning-colored-chips-with-hot-stamps-oxyclean-bad.74709/

 

[Eloe2000]

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cleaning-colored-chips-with-hot-stamps-oxyclean-bad.74709/

Oh yeah I should have clarified for sure not to use on hotstamps unless one wants them burned off.

 

[Ace9416]

Yep… Oxyclean and a Sonic Scrubber is my go to. It is way more powerful than a toothbrush and the bristles much more numerous and stiffer. Completely different animal.

I am going to give this a try. Is that just oxyclean powder? Did you leave them soak for a few minutes? Thanks.