Hey /diy/. Any advice on how to clean up some of my memorabilia?

>>908888
how about you take a picture

>>908889

Um, that is the picture. Corrosion is the thick white markings on the stamp and the white flecks on the cross. Quality is not great but check my dubs.

>>908888
HOLY SHIT YOU GOT QUADS! Four times infinity on the side! Can this day get any better?

But seriously, a sonic bath should do the trick. Usually in vinegar, but I can't vouch for what that would do to the other parts en maybe paints.

>>908888
>posts iron cross
>8888 get
Hitler pls go


But seriously, is this a troll thread? A WW1 Iron Cross is not something you just "clean up", it's a valuable piece of history that could potentially be made nearly worthless by a bad cleaning job. Take it to a few different people who deal with such things, compare their answers, and then cross reference their advice with some research on the internet to make sure that they're not full of shit.

Your best course of action might be to simply keep it well preserved in its current state in a safe, dry place.

>>908895
Reverse image search didn't deliver, but yeah, getting 8888 while posting Eisernes Kreuz is very suspicious.

By the way, the krauts on this (http://www.militaria-fundforum.de/showthread.php?t=533536) forum have the same arguments to just keeping it in a safe and dry place

>>908895
>>908897

It's definitely mine. Probably being a bit blase because the cross might be a fake. NBut hey, I did pick it up in Germany and it's not like there was a shortage of them during WW1 so who knows. Stamp is more the concern. It's definitely real. From some SS brigade. Never taken either of them to a dealer so I wouldn't know. The wood got moldy a while ago so I cleaned with hot soapy water. The salt is my fault. I put in the draw I had them in because I was worried about more mold. Now they have salt corrosion. Not my smartest hour. Saving any advice to the contrary I'll probably clean with vinegar and then rinse with distilled water then dry them and store them in a plastic bag like I should have done originally.

>>908905
>clean with an acid that may degrade the colour and remove patina
>rinse with distilled water, which may make the wood swell
>store it in a plastic bag so any moisture in the wood cannot dry out, causing it to go fucking mouldy and corrode even more

Why even ask for advice when all you're going to do is ignore it like a fucking idiot?

Take the goddamn stuff to a dealer. Leaving it for a few more days to get it examined isn't going to ruin it, but cleaning it incorrectly will. If you find out that the cross is a fake then shove it up your ass for all I care, but get it checked first, and at the same time you can ask about the best way to look after the stamp.

>>908907

Sorry. Thought I was in D.I.Y for a second.

>>908909
Get the fuck out. These could be valuable collectibles, and it is well known cleaning patina and other signs of age off an item WILL reduce its value. Get a clue moron.

>>908909
No, you're on /diy/, where fuckups like you frequently get told when they're out of their depth to seek professional advice before proceeding. What do you want from us? "This One Easy Trick to Devalue Your Memorabilia Collectors Won't Tell You"?

You have at least one historical item that gets shat on if you clean it incorrectly. I saw the thread in the catalog and correctly anticipated that someone would reply, or already had replied
>>908894
with advice that would likely damage the item in question, so I told you to leave it the fuck alone until you could show it to someone who knew what the they were doing. However, since you're obviously some irresponsibly impatient cunt who can't even hold on to see a dealer,
>>908905
you decided to ignore the advice given to you in the thread and do something that is likely to fuck the historical significance and value of your stuff, and probably won't do jack shit about the rust either. Congratulations, you're a grade A retard.

>>908913
It's either historically significant or it's not.

Brasso is made in Sheffield, not Gallifrey.