Letter 34014

Cleaning tarnished gold-plated metal on an antique banjo [No. Carolina] 

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I have just purchased a 1923 banjo, whereby the gold plating is tarnished. Do you have a recommendation on how best to clean it without causing any damage. 

My sincere appreciation for any thoughts/comments/suggestions you may have!!!   

Thank you,

Kris M [name deleted for privacy]
Retail Sales - Sanford, NC, USA


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Pure gold doesn't tarnish, Kris, so what you are probably looking at is the gold has gotten thin in spots. Whatever cleaner or polish you use will not be working on the gold, it will be working on the underlying metal through the porosity in the gold plate. Gold plating is very thin, so I would recommend a non-abrasive cleaner or you'll expose more of the underlayment.

The ideal thing to do is to have those components gold plated again by a plating shop. If that isn't practical you can try the Medallion Gold Plating System, which is an immersion gold plating paste for home use, although I haven't personally used it and can 't attest to how effective it is. If you do decide to try it, please get back to us with your assessment of how useful it was.


Ted Mooney, P.E. 
finishing.com
Brick, NJ

 


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