Either soak a clean soft cloth and wring out any excess before rubbing the tarnished areas, or make a warm water and vinegar solution to soak larger items in for 30 minutes or so before thoroughly rinsing. Try a commercial product: We like SimplyGreen for heavy soils and greasy spills.
Any sort of metal polish will work. You can use something like Nevr-dull, Brasso, or even automotive chrome wheel polish.
Hydrogen peroxide is a fantastic solution for removing dirt from coins while also sterilizing them. Simply place the coins in a bowl and ensure they are completely covered with hydrogen peroxide. Allow them to soak for a full 24 hours. Afterward, rinse the coins with water and gently dry them using a cloth.
Well, the General Services Administration has always listed the ùse of plain supermarket white vinegar as a mildly acidic cleaner for nickel silver alloys. Other than various detergents, white vinegar is probably the mildest chemical cleaner recommended by the GSA.
Regular cleaning with mild soapy water and a non-abrasive cloth is recommended, particularly for pieces used externally, to remove build-up on the surface of the finish.
A gentle, eco-friendly option, baking soda paste effectively removes grime and tarnish without scratching, making it ideal for maintaining nickel surfaces.
Add a small amount of water to a tablespoon of baking soda to form a paste. Apply the paste to each coin using an old toothbrush and scrub gently. Rinse the coins to reveal the now-shiny surfaces.
When silver tarnishes it turns black, and when nickel tarnishes it turns yellow-green. They look quite different. (The nickel mounted frog shown above has no heel plate.)
Bleach-based cleaners or other products that claim to "remove rust or tarnish" can be detrimental to the surface of the nickel, as they likely contain hydrofluoric, hydrochloric and/or phosphoric acids.
To maintain the finish on these items, please o not use any abrasive cleaners, rubbing alcohol, ammonia, detergents, brass or silver polish which will scratch the surface. Clean with a soft damp cloth. Applying a coating of a non-abrasive liquid wax to the clean surface of the product will protect the finish.
If a bright nickel surface has prolonged exposure to the atmosphere, the light oxide layer becomes heavier and the eye now sees this as a dull finish. In the case of a bright nickel surface, one reason that we apply a thin layer of chromium over the nickel is to slow down this oxidation process.
According to research professor Vinod Patel, washing common coins with natural white vinegar and iodized salt in distilled water is a non destructive way of cleaning them.
A DIP IN A SALT BATH
Add in a tablespoon of salt and wait for it to dissolve completely, then take a sheet of aluminum foil, shred a few pieces, and place them in the bowl. The combination of the aluminum and salt will react with the metal, removing the tarnish to reveal a gorgeously shiny surface.
The base metal, often made of copper, nickel, or brass, can react with sulfur and other corrosive agents more easily than silver, accelerating the tarnishing process.
For slightly aged hardware, we recommend Duesenberg ScratchEX. If the hardware shows some heavily tarnished areas, please use a soft metal polish very sparingly. You should however not use it regularly for normal cleaning purposes because you might start to rubb off the nickel if used extensively for years.
Nickel maintenance and care tips
Don't use chemical products: Anything too harsh could simply strip the nickel plating off your items. Don't over soak: As per advice above, soaking items in neat vinegar or ammonia, or leaving them longer than 30 minutes could actually cause more damaged than good.
Try using soap and warm water first. Use a soft rag. Also try chrome metal cleaner, WD40, or oven cleaner. For deeper stains, you may spot treat with ammonia or vinegar.
Scrub low-value coins with baking soda and vinegar, lemon juice and salt, or ketchup to break apart tarnish. Remove tough tarnish on coins by soaking them in hydrogen peroxide or cola.
“Pure nickel is mostly corrosion resistant.
Q: My parts are turning black when plating. What's wrong? A: Commonly this is from zinc or cadmium contamination.
Polished Nickel has a silver tone that tends to the warmer side of the color spectrum. It is a composition of nickel plating on brass that has been polished to a high sheen. Pat dry after use to avoid hard water spots. Clean using liquid soap and water or a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar.
In electrorefining, the nickel is deposited onto pure nickel cathodes from sulfate or chloride solutions. This is done in electrolytic cells equipped with diaphragm compartments to prevent the passage of impurities from anode to cathode.