Cleaning/Sprucing up older pins?

[niknaxx]

Just curious as to how everyone goes about cleaning, polishing or sprucing up their newly acquired pins?

I have seen a few posts that people clean them or shine them up and was wondering exactly what that process looked like I have recently received a few pins that could use a bit of sprucing themselves and would like to do it in a fashion that won't hurt the pin.

 

[Martin B]

I have also been wondering this!

I hope someone can give us an answer!!

 

[heyyouwannatrade]

My dh has always cleaned my pins for me. It started back when we would get home from our Disney trips with all the pins we had traded with cm's. Of course those pins were in typical traded for condition and dirty so he would always wash them when we got home so that they would look nice and new in the books. After I began buying pins from ebay and such he would start to clean those for me as well. He mainly cleaned up anything that was older or had just been sitting around for a while collecting dust and dirt as they were really loosing their shine and some looked scratched and such. I love how nice all my pins look after they are cleaned.

Process? We have found the best soap to clean pins with is the bath and body works antibacterial moisturizing lotion hand soap. Not the soaps with the beads or anything, just the lotion looking kind. They smell nice when you are finished too...lol If he is cleaning just one or two pins he will put a little on his hands and wash gently wash the pin/pins and rinse them off. If he is doing a large # of pins he will run some warm water in the sink and mix in a bit of the soap to make the water just a tad sudsy. He then just puts the pin in the water and uses his fingers to remove any dirt and such from them. He sets them on a towel to let them air dry for a minute or two and then takes a soft cloth to fully dry them with. Usually that cloth gets a bit damp after a while so he will kind of polish it off with another soft cloth. Sounds like a long process but it is not that bad and wow, the pins smell and look so nice. I always love walking into the bathroom when he has several all laid out on the counter after being cleaned b/c they just shine so nicely. It really is amazing the difference it makes in how a pin looks.

I would say just be careful to use a very gentle soap, nothing with the scrubbing beads or anything. The stuff I mentioned above is so gentle on the pins. Don't scrub your pins with any hard rags either. Like I said, dh just uses his fingers to gently wipe away any dirt while it is in the soapy water. You don't want to scratch them up.

Hope this helps.

 

[Tarzangoofster]

Does that process get rid of minor scratches? I have a few pins that could use a buff.

 

[hopemax]

I have used a magic eraser on a couple pins that had seen better days. I too am afraid of using anything too harsh on the pins.

 

[niknaxx]

Thanks for the information!!!

Keep the suggestions coming!!!

 

[niknaxx]

So I just have to report.... I made a couple trades today and figured I would give these methods a try...
:rofl: The pins look AMAZING!!!! NEVER EVER would I have thought there would be that much grime on the pins!!!! :anxious: LOL Kinda almost makes me nervous with the other pins I have ~ I want to go wash all of them off now!!! I know I will be washing EVERY pin that I receive before it goes into the trader or the keeper bag!!!!

 

[heyyouwannatrade]

HAHA! I am telling you, it makes a HUGE difference. You would not think they were so dirty but when you clean them up like that it seriously just makes them shine so much and removes all the layers of dirt/dust/fingerprints that have been all over them. Now you see why we wash almost all of ours...lol So glad you were able to give it a try.

Tarzangoofster, it will not clear up any scratches but when they are cleaned up so well they do show up much less so you would think you did get rid of them sometimes.

 

[Tarzangoofster]

Good to know, thanks!