How to Clean Military Medals
Military medals are among the highest honors a nation can bestow. Awarded for bravery and self-sacrifice, these awards typically take the form of metal pins or medallions. They may look indestructible but are actually quite fragile and require special care. Many medals come with cloth ribbons. Gold or silver on a medal's surface is usually just a thin coating of the precious metal. Overzealous cleaning can actually ruin military medals.
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Instructions
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Remove ribbons if possible. If ribbons cannot be removed, be careful not to get solvents on the ribbons.
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Use silver cleaner on each medal's surface. (Silver cleaner should be used on all types of medal, whether silver, gold or brass.) Use a soft cloth and rub gently to remove grime.
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Remove very tough stains on brass medals with brass polish. Use brass polish sparingly---it's more abrasive than silver cleaner.
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Clean crevices with a cotton swab. If dirt is very tough, use a toothbrush dipped in silver cleaner or brass polish. Scrub carefully and only in the dirty areas.
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Buff the clean medal with a soft cloth. Keep buffing until all cleaner or polish has been removed. (Polish or cleaner residue will tarnish or corrode your military medal.) Continue buffing until the medal shines brightly.
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Tips & Warnings
A warm patina is a sign of an authentic vintage military medal. Patina is not grime and does not need to be removed.
Do not use abrasive cloths or cleansers. Abrasives will damage your medal. Avoid handling military medals. Fingerprints leave oils and grime that can damage the medal. Less handling means less cleaning.
References
- Photo Credit http://www.awardmedals.com/images/military-medal-frame-4-lrg.jpg
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Comments
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Be very careful about using chemical cleaning compounds on any medals, particularly military medals, each time you polish the medals you remove part of the definition / detail of the medal, many medals simply require to be washed in warm soapy water, and given a light scrubbing with an old well worn tooth brush, pat dry with paper towel, in regards to any medal with and Iron Core such as the Prussian / German Iron Cross, warm soapy water, any corrosion / rust pick off with a wooden tooth pick, dry thoroughly using a hair dryer or leave on a paper towel on a radiator. Do not be tempted to repaint the Iron core black, as you will never replicate the original matt powder black of the originals, a slight buffing of the silver rim is preferred by some collectors but avoid any heavy polishing as this will totally remove the dark patina that builds up on silver naturally with time. Old ribbons in particular need to be kept away from sunshine and moisture, very old ribbons had colours made from plant extract and will run if very wet, many old ribbons are not replaceable, the modern reproduction ribbons not quite matching width, colour or feel of the originals, being made from synthetic threads, if in doubt leave well enough alone.
