Made a mess of cleaning my clad

[Anonymous]

I had already sorted and rolled the clean stuff and put the dirty in my tumbler I bought for this very purpose and it did ok on the copper and zinc. But when i put the clad in, it didn't do so hot. So I heard about using vinager, so I tried that, worked so-so, but the really stained stuff needed more. So then I heard that I needed to add salt to the vinager, so I did. Had to watch the tumbler real close because it gassed up and swelled.
The vinager and salt solution didn't do too bad, and I rinsed them off, but didn't have time to dry so I left them sitting in water until I could get back to them. Big mistake. Lost all shine and now they all look like dull iron. <img src="/metal/html/shrug.gif" border=0 width=37 height=15 alt=":shrug">
They looked so bad I couldn't roll and take to my credit union. I had to run them through one of those coin machines at the local grocery store and pay a fee <img src="/metal/html/cry.gif" border=0 width=40 height=15 alt=":cry">
Cashed in 64 quarters, 168 dimes, and 107 nickels.
Any tips on cleaning the stained clad?
Happy Coinstriking <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">

 

[Anonymous]

The best thing I have ever used was a cleaner called "Zud". It's kind of like Comet. My wife was buying it in a grocery store but they quit selling it. Just put in a bunch of coins and your gravel and sprinkle the cleaner over the top. Add water until the whole mess is covered and tumble about an hour or so. I have also had some luck with another powdered cleaner called "Barkeepers Helper" or something like that. I haven't cleaned any cald in so long, it's hard to remember <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol"> I have buckets of dirty money sitting around in the garage <img src="/metal/html/blush.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":redface">. I guess maybe that will be a good summer project for the girls. If they clean it they can spend it. Hey, maybe theres an idea in one of those magazines! <img src="/metal/html/lol.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":lol">

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

Mike,
All I did was add a few drops of dishwashing soap to the white aquarium gravel and water mix. It all came out fine. It took about 12 hrs or more of tumbling. I can't remember the exact amount of time. I just checked it every so often and dumped out the brown water and replaced with clean water and more dishwashing soap.
Dave

 

[Anonymous]

I did the same as WVAdirtdigger and let the tumbler do it's thing while I slept. About 8 hours and they were fine. Most of my clad was just discolored and usually kinda black. The green (salt) ones and really encrusted ones did not get much better with this solution. I did find a useful tip if you use a solution that causes a buildup of gas. Add sugar to it and it will thicken the solution which helps somehow.