What do you use beside electrolysis ? i dont know how to do electrolysis

I don't know how most of the folks here use it but I use a homemade 2 'D' cell flashlight design for rifle barrels with a solution of H2o, household ammonia, and white vinegar, 2:1:1. Here is the link to my type tool and instructions on how to use it, in short, a lesson in electrolysis.

This work VERY well in old military rifles but you have to be careful not to excede 45 minutes or you will damage the steel. I usually keep it at 35-40 min. max.

I suspect you'll have to get some hands-on experience to really be able to make it a useful tool but it is a fun process and the tool is not difficult to make.

Good Luck!
 
Here is an easy step by step tutorial on electrolosys, if you are interested in learning how to do it. It is quite basic and simple. I also use a rock tumbler for cleaning common clad coins, the results are amazing.
 
DO NOT CLEAN YOUR FINDS, more or less

Nobody's mentioned this, but unless you know what you're doing in the first place and can keep an almost constant eye on it, home electrolysis can be an awesome way to burn your house down.

First, NOTHING you dig that you suspect might be unusual or somewhat rare should be cleaned in any way. This includes spit-rubbing coins of any type to see the date or mint mark when you dig 'em up.

Modern (1800s-1900s) artifacts (ie swords, cannonballs, shipwreck stuff, etc) should be handled by professionals since they usually have a high iron content and need to be carefully restored and preserved. But most people in detecting forums usually ask this about coins. First and foremost, the ONLY thing guaranteed not to affect the value (if any) of your find is water, either by running it under water to remove the loose dirt, or soaking it, like, forever, in a water bath to loosen any crusties. in either case, NEVER RUB any surface. With anything. Ever. If find you've got a key date coin, take it to a coin dealer/numismatist you can trust for further resotration/crud removal. You'll be happy you did.

Otherwise, if you've just got an old coin that isn't worth much beyond sentimental value to you because it's the oldest one you've dug so far, here's a few things I've discovered, and my comments/preferences:

Water soak: Unquestionably the ONLY best way to "clean" anything. Only problem is, it takes an ice age to work, and most of us don't have that kind of patience.

Olive oil soak: Takes as much forever as water (weeks and weeks, maybe longer) and IMO isn't any different than water except with one HUGE difference: with olive oil, you just end up with a greasy coin that'll always feel greasy -- and will be a telltale sign to any collector that it's been cleaned.

Hydrogen Peroxide soak: Works faster than olive oil/water and does a nice job of "scrubbing" off the crud, but still takes awhile and still qualifies as chemical cleaning. Only drawback is, you have to keep dumping off the old peroxide and pouring in fresh stuff once the bubbling action is done. Plus, it mainly works better on whatever side of the coin you have facing up, so you're continually flipping the coins. More trouble than it's worth, reall.

Washing Soda and Water soak: This is Arm and Hammer *Washing Soda* -- NOT baking soda. You can find it in the detergent aisle at the supermarket. Works the same way as the peroxide soak, except a bit faster. Works better at getting the undersides of coins clean than peroxide with not nearly as much flipping them over. And you still have to dump out the old exhausted solution and do a fresh batch until nothing is flaking off and floating to the surface anymore.

Ketchup/lemon juice soak: Totally unnecessary on silver to begin with, wreaks havoc on coppers and nickels. These household items are fundamentally ACID. Great way to destroy even a sentimental-value copper coin even more, and does crazy things to nickels too.

Baking-powder paste rub/polish: Rubbing's a no-no no matter what, but this is kinda overkill on silver coins, which NEVER get all gunky-green like coppers and nickels in the first place. Sure, it'll take the black tarnish off, but again -- since baking powder's still an *abrasive,* you'll still get little scratches on the coin. And when it comes to silver coins, especially valuable ones, that tarnish isn't necessarily a bad thing. (In fact, some civil war artifacts dug up today with lots of green crust on them are far more valuable than the same items someone's been storing in pristine condition in a closet for 150 years. Absolutely true.) Besides, there's nothing more gawkishly wrong-looking than a gleaming-shiny polished worn-down Barber dime.

Cleaning clads for the Coinstar machine: Forget buying a coin tumbler. Save yourself a load of cash by dumping a bunch of aquarium gravel into an empty plastic gallon milk jug, filling it quarter to half way with tap water, squirt in any sort of soap or detergent, and dump in your clads. Cover the top and shake your brains out until all the gunk is off them. Then cash 'em in at the machine.

There ya go.
 
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