Easy / Cheap Chemical Removal of Milk Spots - Does it Work ?

[stefffana]

Will produce Chloramine and in contact with your mucous membranes will create Hydrochloric acid. Can be very dangerous!

[HillWalkerDundee]

24 minutes ago, TutoredSoup232 said:

Whatever you do, don't mix it with bleach!

I do remember being told about this on R4 a good few years ago. The bathroom had been cleaned and the usual acid / alkali chemicals were in the bowl when it exploded to the detriment of the testicles belonging to the lad who was sitting down at the time. As the paramedics stretchered him to the ambulance they were laughing so much that they dropped him with the result being a broken arm to add to his woes 🙂

[SilverJacks]

Okay thanks for warnings. I think it's pretty dangerous as is so wouldn't mix it with anything. And it's going nowhere near the testes.

 

[TutoredSoup232]

33 minutes ago, SilverJacks said:

Duly noted. What happened? Did it explode?

"When combined, these two common household cleaners release toxic chloramine gas. Exposure to chloramine gas can cause irritation to your eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. In high concentrations, it can lead to coma and death"

[SilverJacks]

Okay i better wear my weekly Tesco trip suit for good measure.

 

[Arganto]

Knock Out is a decent domestic version, it's the one I'll likely get. It's a weak solution compared to the higher grade stuff that's available, I think it's ~5% as opposed to the 20-30% that you can find. It's still pretty rough on the skin and schnoz though wear decent gloves and open the windows 😁

I've had some impressive results just now with Meguiars Ultimate Polish and a smooth spectacle cleaning cloth. It was a "I'll just try it quick before I put the kettle on" sort of deal so no before and after pics. I'll do a proper load of pictures with the next coin I do tomorrow and document everything. It's completely removed the milk staining on the obverse and reverse (it was a doozy too, covered a good third of the coin), and to the eye has left no appreciable hazing/scratches. No doubt under a loupe it will be a different story but the coin was a Royal Mint effort so not likely perfect anyway 🤣

The one I do tomorrow will have close up pictures before and after to get a better idea of the difference overall. I'm also not jumping the gun with the others until this first attempt has sat overnight, just in case it's temporary voodoo and the stain pushes through again...

The reeding was a bugger to do, but I hit upon the idea of an electric toothbrush (the kind that just vibrates, no reciprocating heads or anything) with a new soft bristle brush. Seems to have worked quite well.

[SilverJacks]

Okay so if the Knockout fails, I'm gonna rummage through the garage for some car polish...

[Pete]

It is strange how so many stackers still want to waste their time using household products to try and remove milk stains and spots from their silver when others have clearly responded to say they don't work. What we want are untried and new methods.

Out of interest when people buy jeweller's cloths I assume the cloth is impregnated with an ultra fine polishing compound.
Does anyone know what this is ?
Is it any different from silver polish, white jeweller's ( rouge ) in a solid block, or car chrome polish you buy in a tube ?

[Arganto]

20 minutes ago, Pete said:

It is strange how so many stackers still want to waste their time using household products to try and remove milk stains and spots from their silver when others have clearly responded to say they don't work. What we want are untried and new methods.

Hi Pete! My curiosity was peaked over the ammonia hydroxide when I saw a video showing success in it's use. I would also class the (good quality) car paint polish I used last night as a success, at least as effective as jeweller's cloths if not possibly more so with regards scratching. Hard to make any claims though in honesty without lots of back to back testing; I'm not that into it though, I'm just pleased with the erasure of the milk stains! 😁

[MancunianStacker]

I’m covering milk spotted coin in peanut butter and giving it to the cat to clean.

It needs to earn its keep some how  the lazy little git.

[Arganto]

Peanut butter for dog's medicine, I reckon fish paste for a mog? 🤔

[MancunianStacker]

10 hours ago, Liam84 said:

Peanut butter for dog's medicine, I reckon fish paste for a mog? 🤔

You don’t know my cat 🤣 I’ll try fish paste too 😉 

[TutoredSoup232]

So to add to my recent scientific discoveries I tried to remove milk spots from a minted bar that I presume has been milk spotting for a while before I bought it. New milk spots had emerged since. I found that the hand soap removed the fresh milk spots but did nothing to the old ones. The ones on my lunar rat coin were also new ones - had emerged within a few weeks of trying to remove them. 

[Groundup]

Clearasil will help with the removal of white spots. 

And yes....your suggestions are as woefull as mine.

[Arganto]

Okay so I took the coin in the first two pictures, used the stuff in the third picture and got the result shown in pictures four and five. 

 

[Arganto]

I should also add that thus far coin number one that was cleaned is still a-okay. 

If you try this make sure you rinse thoroughly in warm/hot water as soon as you're done wiping as you don't want this sort of polish drying out.

[TutoredSoup232]

9 minutes ago, Liam84 said:

Okay so I took the coin in the first two pictures, used the stuff in the third picture and got the result shown in pictures four and five. 

 

😯😯😯 can you run through a bit more of your process, O magical one?

[Arganto]

Use a smooth microfibre/spectacle cloth, put a tiny amount of polish onto the cloth and rub gently along the face of the coin whilst holding it by the edge with the other hand. I've done a few passes with tiny blobs and light pressure rather than slopping it on and pushing hard just in case. To do the edge if there is reeding use a soft bristle toothbrush (I used a vibrating electric one) to scrub the polish into the grooves. Wash/rinse thoroughly under the tap with warm/hot water. Do not let the polish leave a residue and dry; it can probably be rinsed off with hot water but I wouldn't want to find out the hard way. I wore blue gloves the whole time to avoid getting finger grease mixed in there, plus it helps with rinsing the polish off when you're done.

The cloth comes away blackened where it's been used it so that tells me it's pulling off whatever causes the borax/annealing stain. I can see no scratches or hazing as a consequence, it's pretty impressive. 

I did one the other day and it still looks great. I will leave this coin out for a few weeks to see if there are any long term consequences, but as there is no polish residue left behind I can't see there being any.

A fun experiment with a happy outcome.

[TutoredSoup232]

interesting, seems I have a few scratched coins to apologise to 😂

doesn't happen to hide scratches does it? 

[Arganto]

I should add that your mileage may vary, this was something I thought to try because I had the stuff to hand and am a fan of Meguiar's products for the cars. Also some of these Brits where the worst I've seen for milking, I think someone must have kicked a bottle of borax over them before they got baked 🤣 Their line of polishes are very sympathetic to weak modern and tough old school paint, so I figured it would be 'mild' enough to try on silver. Other brands may use harsher or more abrasive chemicals. Also, don't mix up compound with polish or glaze!

[Arganto]

1 minute ago, TutoredSoup232 said:

interesting, seems I have a few scratched coins to apologise to 😂

doesn't happen to hide scratches does it? 

Interesting you say that, some marks and scratches on the high areas like the Queen's cheek have disappeared. There is no difference in weight before and after on a calibrated .00 scale so if any material is being removed it's infinitesimally small.

[TutoredSoup232]

Let the experiment begin!

[TutoredSoup232]

 

Before and after, the milk spots have disappeared however my coin seems to be a little bit darker like its tarnished. I might be missing a step here, but tarnished looks better than milk spotted any day

[Arganto]

Good job getting the staining off! That looks like a proof or a proof-like, well done cleaning it sympathetically it looks good.

Did it get a thorough rinse in warm/hot water? I wonder if the darkening is residue?

[TutoredSoup232]

2 hours ago, Liam84 said:

Good job getting the staining off! That looks like a proof or a proof-like, well done cleaning it sympathetically it looks good.

Did it get a thorough rinse in warm/hot water? I wonder if the darkening is residue?

Its the noah's ark coins from armenia, the germans did a great job on these coins, they're all proof like. However mine definitely isn't now, don't think my cloth was soft enough 🤣

I think it was residue, I'm guessing the same thing that happens when you use metal polish on stuff and sometimes the black stuff that comes off sticks to it if you don't wipe it off properly. I'm going to try one of those non invasive tarnish removal methods, I think i have some bicarb in the kitchen. I think a spot application might have been better, I went to town on the whole coin 

You need to trademark your discovery or a monument erected in your honour on this forum somewhere for ridding us of milk spots 👌🏽