Baden cleaning "Kriegsmetal"

[Jef]

Hello Gents,

Could someone please give me some advice about this medal: to clean or not clean this Silberne Verdienstmedaille Baden. Kriegsmetal seems to clean very difficult. The scan of the medal looks better than the medal ....

kind regards and lot of thanks,

Jef

[Brian Wolfe]

Always a matter of individual preference, however, I would not touch it.

In the end it is up to you.

Regards

Brian

[Guest Rick Research]

"Bad" zink like this will continue to deteriorate until nothing is left... in a couple of hundred years--hopefully for us!

I had a German metal polish in the 1970s (!) called "Wenol" that when something like this was rubbed and rubbed and rubbed between your FINGERS (cloth or Q-tips would not work) WOULD take the surface scruff off... but leaves behind a still most unattractive stripped gray shine--and DOES wear down the surface. I've used that on things that didn't matter, but wouldn't recommend on a medal like this. For one thing, that stress would no doubt break the suspension wire off.

War zink was never made to last.

[Jef]

Thank you gentlemen for your advice. I won't try to polish, in fact that was not my intention at all.

But the medal looks so fragile, so dry. Would you dissaprove if I treat the medal with a soft synthetic oil? Oil would stop the oxidation procces.

What do you think?

Jef

[Robin Lumsden]

Warm soapy water and a soft toothbrush.