To clean or not to clean

[Philip Wilson]

I would leave them exactly as they are and would not remove the original ribbons.

This fascination with having everything looking nice, shiny and clean is fine for the parade ground. I much prefer medals to be left as originally worn by the recipient. Medals with a decent patina of age should be left as they are.

There will always be two schools of thought.

If you have photos of the recipient wearing his medals swing mounted then why court mount them? Rows of block mounted medals on new ribbons for display purposes may suit some but why change the character of the medal group - far better to leave them as they are.

Philip

[Vimyridge]

Ahh.... Roger,

You mis judge me. I am minded to leve all as they are. I always was but I am still interested in your council.

Hi Trench trotter, my apologies..I never meant to mis-judge

I would also agree with the other comments regarding ribbons, leave them as is.

I do however think it's wonderful to have a nice set of medals all polished and remounted if they were without ribbons and are in horrible condition

(ie, so tarnished that they are being damaged by whatever is on them) This way you can tell people, "this is what they looked like the day they were issued"

Here are a few of the medals I have mounted myself with photo's etc. As you can see one set is in excellent condition having never been polished with original ribbons, yet the second set are in bad shape, but again both of these came with the soldiers uniforms as is. So they will stay "as is"

Congrats on matching those medals together, that is wonderful!

Cheers

Roger

[27thBN]

Bottom line its your personal decision obviously ,some like to match with no damage ...me others dont ..but in all cases I never ,ever polish

MC

[wainfleet]

Here are a few of the medals I have mounted myself with photo's etc. As you can see one set is in excellent condition having never been polished with original ribbons, yet the second set are in bad shape, but again both of these came with the soldiers uniforms as is. So they will stay "as is"

I like both of those sets and wouldn't change the ribbons on the second pair. They show their age and the life they have had since, which is absolutely fine. My thinking is that a medal is a bit different to a piece of uniform or equipment. Its service life is the lifetime(s) of its legitimate owners and custodians, not its life up to when its owner was demobbed. If that makes sense.

I too would not polish a medal. The most I'd do is very carefully try and clean off any dirt. If it looked as if doing this would leave an oddly clean patch, I'd leave it. As a collector of militaria but not medals, I just own the one pair which I acquired with some unrelated bits. Someone else had unfortunately part-cleaned the BWM, which I'm leaving to tone down as much as it can. It will always look a bit odd, but that can't be helped.

[auchonvillerssomme]

They weren't issued black so why leave them that way, they are silver, get it dipped.

Mick

[Nulli Secundus]

The gilding on the Victory medals is often damaged or discoloured. I never clean them for fear of exacerbating the problem!

[auchonvillerssomme]

As long as you aren't abrading the surface how can you destroy the gilding? Nothing wrong with soap and water and as i said in post 5, a small spot of polish if it has evidence of being cleaned before. Don't mistake lacquer for the gilding and if it isn't lacquered dont lacquer.

[rksimpson]

Hi auchonvillerssomme

Why do you say don't lacquer?

Will it affect the medal?

regards

Robert

[KIRKY]

We often get medals that are lacquered and often the surface has been damaged beyond repair as if the lacquer eats into the surface. If you clean with polish or a silver/metal cleaner make sure you wash it afterwards in soap and water as if you leave any on again this will eat into the surface of the medal.

Tony

[David B]

MY g/fathers were kept in a box for 80 odd years and 5 years ago I had them framed. They are as good as new with a slight patina of age on them - magnificent.

David

[27thBN]

no lacquer ,no clean ..easy answer

MC

[ph0ebus]

My dad laquered his WWII ribbons and sadly the laquer has darkened considerably in the past 60+ years, and it is impossible to remove without destroying the ribbons. Something to keep in mind.

-Daniel

[Nulli Secundus]

As occasionally seen Victory Medals will have some sort of verdigris on them.

This can be caused by the gilding being fractured or damaged and then when they are cleaned with soap and water any water that is trapped in the crack or damaged gilding will eventually cause the damage to worsen and the medals to develop the verdigris.

[Staffsyeoman]

I varnished some cap badges with a spray lacquer intended for watercolour painting several years ago, and they are still OK

I am definitely in the 'clean them' camp, but do it infrequently. I confess, I have never heard of

ribbons being lacquered though?

With VMs if they have seen any real wear, the gilding will probably be gone anyway as the cleaning options were much harsher back in contemporary days. I'd agree if you have one with most/all the gilding there - don't put polish near it.

The same goes for the 2002 Golden Jubilee Medal. Don't, not, no, never use polish.

[madman]

hi all this is not anything to do with selling medals so maybe to many this question may seem a little pointless , but does cleaning medals de-value them in any way , not that value is a real issue to myself just curiousity .

Regards

nathan

[Piorun]

No - at least, it shouldn't. The soldier who earned them would not be allowed to parade with them dirty. Those who treasure his legacy should aspire to the same standards. Eventually, they will wear away. Such is the nature of the universe. Antony

[dycer]

Antony,

Tongue in cheek question and I'll enjoy the ensuing debate.

Are you suggesting from your answer it is O.K. to clean "survivors" medals but not "casualties"?

George

[David B]

May I suggest that a patina of old age should not be removed. However if the medal is covered in junk"" (you can put in any descriptor that youlike) well it should be cleaned.

[wainfleet]

The subject of cleaning medals has come up a few times here, and the same two irreconcilable arguments always surface, namely "it's meant to be clean and shiny so keep it that way", and "it's a historical artefact so don't try and make it look new". What you do is always going to be a personal choice, but it's advisable to know your own mind, because once you've polished up a medal there is no going back.

Personally I wince at the idea of polishing up any historical artefact and agree with the school of thought that says clean off the dirt but not the patina. Preservation is the name of the game. No doubt the millennia-old bronze Greek helmets in the British Museum were intended to be bright during their working life, but nobody suggests polishing them until they wear out.

I expect someone will be along shortly to put the opposite view!

[Staffsyeoman]

Ah, how many times have we been around this buoy in the harbour.

Medals are meant to be clean, in my book. Perhaps after the passage of time not scrubbed to within

an inch of their lives (I've seen so many groups to Guardsmen where the obverses are polished almost

flat) but a gentle clean won't hurt now and again. Medals are meant (in most cases) to shine and

reflect the light. That said, I am completely opposed to medals being plated

(a very well known dealership does that if they mount your group) as it looks fake.

I'm afraid 'patina' - which in my book only applies to furniture and bronzes - is the same as

'nicely toned' in catalogues: it means 'dirty'...

[James Blonde]

I clean the medals in my collection by washing with a soft well worn tooth brush

and warm soapy water, but care must be taken to avoiding getting the ribbons wet

if they cannot be removed from the medal.

I dry them by patting them with a paper towel and in the case of the Iron crosses which have a iron centre segment sandwiched between silver rims dry them further by using a hair dryer.

As for "the soldier who received them would have polished them" argument no doubt when he had polished the detail off them, possibly would have had access to obtaining an official replacement? and would not excessive polishing constitute as damaging crown / government property

Time created patina (as opposed to grease and dirt)adds a certain luster and beauty to these items and in noway deflects from the original owner and his service.

Just my tuppence worth.

Connaught Stranger.

[PhilB]

All in the eye of the beholder, Nathan. This medal has been washed in hot soapy water & that`s all. It`s virtually as received by the next of kin of Pte G W Keates Lancashire Fusiliers, killed at Lancashire Landing. Would it look better polished?

[James Blonde]

Just what was the Military regulations in respect to medals,

were there specific orders for the polishing of?

@ Phil_B :- Beautiful example (insert drooling emoticom here!)

Connaught Stranger.

[David B]

If we are talking about ww1 medals we should remember that by the time most of the soldiers who received medals were well and truly out of the service anyhow, so polishing up for the

parade would not be carried out.

[Piorun]

All in the eye of the beholder, Nathan. This medal has been washed in hot soapy water & that`s all. It`s virtually as received by the next of kin of Pte G W Keates Lancashire Fusiliers, killed at Lancashire Landing. Would it look better polished?

Yes, PhilB. A light buffing with metal polish would make all the difference - or just get that piglet to snuffle it for a while .

As to other posts which suggest rubbing away, I had my tongue in my cheek when I said they would eventually disappear. It would take literally years of constant polishing to wear the medal away. Any clean-up need only be a sometime thing. My uncle's WW1 medals are clean and bright and as sharp as they day they were issued.

I agree with the commnets about plating, tho'. One of my own medals is "staybright" or whatever they call it (anodised, I think) and I often feel that it looks like something I won in a funfair.

Cheers, Antony