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GUIDE Removing Scratches from pins

First off, let’s define what a scratch is versus a crater like the Grand Canyon. Normal wear on a pin or light scratches such as when they rub together can be polished out relatively easy.

What you have to understand is that we (you) will not only be polishing the scratch but the entire area around it. The idea is to bring the surface area around the scratch down to the relief level or depth of the scratch.

Some scratches or grooves are sometimes too deep to fix. You have to remember you are taking a small amount of surface area off. Now don’t panic, when you wax your car, each time you are removing some paint but in almost non-measurable amounts.

For the record, we are talking about hairline and minor scratches anywhere from a few 10,000th’s of an inch to a few 1000th’s. Of an inch.

NOTE:***** Some pins are not all enamel or Cloisonné’ and actually have screened images or print on them. A great example is the WDI Name Badges.
I have a friend who just used a cleaning solution and it wore the name off the pin.

You must know your pins prior to cleaning it with anything. As for cleaning, I usually recommend just a light cloth with like (Distilled or Filtered) warm water and if necessary a small amount of Dish soap as there are no chemicals that will have a reaction with the metal, enamel or print. “Don’t use Windex or other household chemicals”

Now to remove the scratches:

One of the best ways to remove the scratches is with a jeweler cloth embedded with rouge. This is used on all fine jewelry including gold and the finish when completed is like a mirror. This is more for the polishing end and will remove minor scratches but can take some time. Then again, any removing of scratches when done properly will take time.

You may have heard of people using toothpaste to remove scratches on a watch face. Toothpaste is abrasive but at a minimal abrasion rate. In many cases you can remove the scratches with toothpaste and the recommended cloth is cheesecloth. If you use a cloth that is rough (and it may seem smooth to the touch) it can hurt more than it helps.

If you don’t have cheesecloth, maybe you have a lens cleaner from a camera or glasses. These work very well as they have no abrasive elements.

*** Remember that you should use circular movement when polishing and polish the entire area around the scratch. You are basically bringing down the rest of the surface to the scratch. If the scratch is a little more than just a mark on the finish, you may need to remove more enamel.

You can buy polishing compound at any hardware store like Home depot and again, make sure you use the right type of polishing cloth. Once you are done with the polishing and the scratch is removed, you can wash the pin (again with Distilled or Filtered water) and then Wax it. Believe it or not, turtle wax works really well and will put the luster back into the pin.

In many cased, just a nice buff and wax can bring the pin back to its original form. It is always best to start with the least abrasive and work up as needed. If it will wax out, that is your best bet but I have had great success removing scratches from y pins as well as friend’s pins.

Someone asked me about rubbing compound and for starters, there are typically 2 types, fine & coarse. Never use coarse and try not to use it at all unless you are prepared to spend some serious time on the pin. When using rubbing compound, the particles are larger and will remove scratches but will require a lot more polishing and buffing to obtain a glass like surface. It does work but I recommend this for the more experienced users.

If you have any questions, you can always feel free to PM me anytime.
I hope you find this information useful as I have heard many people talk about scratches and how to remove them.
 
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Has anyone tried using J-B Weld on pin backs? It's a steel reinforced epoxy. I have some, but don't want to mess up my 'broken' pins. I have some pins that the post (just the thin pointy part) on the back snapped off into the rubber Mickey pin back. Help!
 
Careful with the polishing on GOLD underlayed pins. The gold could come off rather easily and then you end up with a shiney but silver pin on a gold back.
I have also managed to get a few silver ones (such as the tink magic dust pin) looking nice and shiney, but now with a copper look to them...
And I used a microfibre cloth (the costco kind).

The offending substances used are Maguires scratch-x and Tech wax. Just because it works on the car doesn't mean it won't harm the pin... :-(

That said, marks like the one Margareth had, are faily easy. I second the goof-off suggestion, but WD40 and/or Isopropanol work as well. If one doesn't the other usually works.
Oh and be careful with screenprinted ones and alcohol. I had the travel pin with "Olbia" on the bottom, and alcohol took that right off. Nice, clean, and ... gone.

Maybe I should just stick to turtle wax...

On the dremel, I'd argue a nice brass brush, slow speed and silver back may work well. Some blemishes came right off, and the surface looks like new. Just don't stay on one spot.

At the end, a short blast of simple green and a soft toothbrosh will clean off any greasy or dusty residue.

But your mileage may vary.
 
Has anyone tried using J-B Weld on pin backs? It's a steel reinforced epoxy. I have some, but don't want to mess up my 'broken' pins. I have some pins that the post (just the thin pointy part) on the back snapped off into the rubber Mickey pin back. Help!
I would also recommend super glue. It's a lot less messy, I would go for the class sg, and not the gel
 
Thanks for this Dan! I'm definitely going to have to try it out on one of my less-expensive pins that show a little wear.

Dan, this are the marks on the back of my pin. Any ideas how to remove them? Thanks.

This almost looks similar to what happens to collectible coins when they are handled too much. The oils in your skin can saturate the metal and cause discolorations. A jewelry cloth might do the trick, but it might take a while. I just try not handle my pins too much and when I do I use a jewelry cloth to wipe them down before putting them back in their packaging.
 
So, I traded for this pin off a CM at wdw a few months back.... He was too cute to pass up...

jEqTBbO.jpg

How do I fix this?! I don't have any of the tools listed in the OP.
 
I like the recommendation of the jeweler's cloth! That's great....I even have one here, I just never thought of using it on a pin! I will test it on some traders I have laying around first, but I don't see that it could do any harm. I'll buy an extra cloth to keep with my pin stuff if it works. Sometimes, FYI, if you go to a local jeweler they will have these for cheap, or sometimes for free (as like an advertising giveaway) and they are not to be washed, just use them till they're worn to shreds. I have had mine for about 11 years, when the owner of a local jeweler gave it to me. I use it on my delicate jewelry all the time (my wedding band is imported sterling silver, and unfortunately it tarnishes and gets light scratches all the time very easily). Thanks! By the way, if you can't find one cheap locally, if you search "rouge jeweler cloth" on Amazon they have some for less than $7!
 
I would also recommend super glue. It's a lot less messy, I would go for the class sg, and not the gel

I agree, that's how I fix a wobbly or broken pin back. And the key is to glue it and leave it to set, not play with it, i.e. keep checking if its dried or not. Do it, and leave it over night.
 
First off, let’s define what a scratch is versus a crater like the Grand Canyon. Normal wear on a pin or light scratches such as when they rub together can be polished out relatively easy.

What you have to understand is that we (you) will not only be polishing the scratch but the entire area around it. The idea is to bring the surface area around the scratch down to the relief level or depth of the scratch.

Some scratches or grooves are sometimes too deep to fix. You have to remember you are taking a small amount of surface area off. Now don’t panic, when you wax your car, each time you are removing some paint but in almost non-measurable amounts.

For the record, we are talking about hairline and minor scratches anywhere from a few 10,000th’s of an inch to a few 1000th’s. Of an inch.

NOTE:***** Some pins are not all enamel or Cloisonné’ and actually have screened images or print on them. A great example is the WDI Name Badges.
I have a friend who just used a cleaning solution and it wore the name off the pin.

You must know your pins prior to cleaning it with anything. As for cleaning, I usually recommend just a light cloth with like (Distilled or Filtered) warm water and if necessary a small amount of Dish soap as there are no chemicals that will have a reaction with the metal, enamel or print. “Don’t use Windex or other household chemicalsâ€

Now to remove the scratches:

One of the best ways to remove the scratches is with a jeweler cloth embedded with rouge. This is used on all fine jewelry including gold and the finish when completed is like a mirror. This is more for the polishing end and will remove minor scratches but can take some time. Then again, any removing of scratches when done properly will take time.

You may have heard of people using toothpaste to remove scratches on a watch face. Toothpaste is abrasive but at a minimal abrasion rate. In many cases you can remove the scratches with toothpaste and the recommended cloth is cheesecloth. If you use a cloth that is rough (and it may seem smooth to the touch) it can hurt more than it helps.

If you don’t have cheesecloth, maybe you have a lens cleaner from a camera or glasses. These work very well as they have no abrasive elements.

*** Remember that you should use circular movement when polishing and polish the entire area around the scratch. You are basically bringing down the rest of the surface to the scratch. If the scratch is a little more than just a mark on the finish, you may need to remove more enamel.

You can buy polishing compound at any hardware store like Home depot and again, make sure you use the right type of polishing cloth. Once you are done with the polishing and the scratch is removed, you can wash the pin (again with Distilled or Filtered water) and then Wax it. Believe it or not, turtle wax works really well and will put the luster back into the pin.

In many cased, just a nice buff and wax can bring the pin back to its original form. It is always best to start with the least abrasive and work up as needed. If it will wax out, that is your best bet but I have had great success removing scratches from y pins as well as friend’s pins.

Someone asked me about rubbing compound and for starters, there are typically 2 types, fine & coarse. Never use coarse and try not to use it at all unless you are prepared to spend some serious time on the pin. When using rubbing compound, the particles are larger and will remove scratches but will require a lot more polishing and buffing to obtain a glass like surface. It does work but I recommend this for the more experienced users.

If you have any questions, you can always feel free to PM me anytime.
I hope you find this information useful as I have heard many people talk about scratches and how to remove them.

This will be something I need to try!
 
So I've seen wax mentioned a couple of times but has anyone tried it? I'm talking like hard car wax...Turtle Wax for example....the kind in a tub. It seems like it would fill in any light scratches and then buff to an even and smooth shiny surface. Unfortunately, like waxing a car, it is probably something that would need to be done periodically.

As far as discolorations on the backs of pins, I've used Barkeeper's Friend, a soft toothbrush, and a microfiber cloth with great results. Barkeeper's Friend is a gentle non scratching powder cleaner that can be found in grocery stores. I just make a paste with a little of the powder and some water and gently rub it on the back of the pin with my finger. Then I wet the toothbrush and again GENTLY scrub until the stains go away. Dry and polish with a microfiber cloth and make sure to really dry your pin well as you don't want rust. (oh, and this method actually removes rust too!)

I'm curious if any of you have had this happen to pins. I have some pin on pin and dangle pins circa 2005 or so that were taken off cards and placed in my pin book on the old style black, thick, velvety pages. When I went to move them, they have some weird greeninsh white looking corrosion on the backs where the pin on pin or dangle elements connect. It almost looks like when you have corrosion on your car batter but to a much lesser degree. Just wonder if anyone else has had this happen and maybe what causes it...the pins? the book? the pages? bad luck?
 
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