Tarnished saddles? Try ketchup!

I bought a Tokai standard trem recently (arm had broken off so drilled out and rebored - M5 0.8 - cool) however 3 of the saddles were black on the rear folded piece. Tried my metal polish which removed other grime but did not impact the black marks. I assumed that the chrome plating had been worn away.

I remembered the old trick with the tranished penny and ketchup so applied some (Heinz 57 of course) and left i overnight.

This morning i polished the ketchup off and the discoloured area had returned to silver, not shiney but not black. May try brown sauce next time. Unfortunately I didnt take a before picture but could take an after. Try it, it might make a difference.

Have you tried Irn Bru?Ian.

Or even Coke or Pepsi, you see what that does to a penny.

will try those too.

iainblack said:

will try those too.

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If they take tarnish off of metal, imagine what they do to your teeth and guts.

marcusnieman said:

iainblack said:

will try those too.

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If they take tarnish off of metal, imagine what they do to your teeth and guts.

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They make them all bright and shiny!

I'm just guessing here, but it would probably be the vinegar in the sauce that's doing the job. Maybe just vinegar by itself?

I believe you're right keir, it's the vinegar - acetic acid.

Surely the best thing to do with tarnished metal parts is to leave them exactly as they are?

Mike

I would avoid acids, alcohols, cokes... The first time you use them on hardware, results are great but they slowly cause a damage in the metal that eventually will come irreversible.

I think the best bet is to get a product that is specifically made for cleaning nickel, chrome or whatever your hardware is made of.

Are the specialist products any different? For example, Brasso will clean the tarnish off brass, copper and other metals, but it seems to be little more than chalk suspended in ammonia. Or is there a magic ingredient I've missed?

stratman323 said:

Are the specialist products any different? For example, Brasso will clean the tarnish off brass, copper and other metals, but it seems to be little more than chalk suspended in ammonia. Or is there a magic ingredient I've missed?

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No, no I said "specifically for nickel", no brass, copper and other metals.

I have to admit that I actually never found a "nickel cleaner" but they do exist products to specifically clean chrome because chrome is used in other fields like motorbikes and cars. They content ingredients that do not damage chrome but that they might damage other metals, I don't know.

I have a large experience destroying hardware :lol: because I live in front of the sea and here there is a lot of humidity in the air, so all the metal parts of my guitars tarnish pretty soon or they get a layer of disgusting sticky rust that it is quite difficult to remove.

I have tried everything that I could grab. I've tried alcohols, gin, coke, different cleaning products, gastric juices... I think the worst are alcohols and acids.

Now, my approach is to change all nickeled hardware for chrome - unfortunately, chromed parts for les pauls are difficult to find - I meticulously clean each metal part after everytime I play, I cover all harware with old rags or old t-shirts and then I store. I only use a drop of a cleaning product whenever I find a stain that I can't remove by hand or with just breath.

I find nickel to be quite weak in certain parts, specially parts that are exposed to sweat. My LP bridge and bridge pick up cover always lose all shine. The neck pick up cover has horizontal marks of fast fret under each string that I can't remove... and it is supposed to be just oil. The surface is still polished but with no shine.

One of these days I have to try electrolysis :lol: but I don't know if it will help to recover the shine of nickel.

One of these days I have to try electrolysis :lol: but I don't know if it will help to recover the shine of nickel.[/quote No but it`s great for removing unwanted hair,according to my wife!

I saw an experiment at school where they nickel plated a 2p piece (copper amalgam) and it looked like the old 10 piece due to comparative sizes - I have just remembered I have a nickel spatula that I could try this with another metal before the real thing.

From memory you attach the thing you want coated to the negative terminal of a battery (anode?) but I am not sure of the solution you dip it in to allow the nickel ions to flow - sodium chloride may result in sodium ions deposting and oxidising to black - any recent chemistry students to advise (maybe do some googling)

I'm sure the method for cleaning heavily tarnished nickel is soaking in a solution of one part ammonia, three parts water