[EmptyPocs]

I had aquired some used Blue Chip made Modern Clay $1 chips a while back.
They had seen allot of use but were in good shape.
I tried using the same methods I had previously used on younger Modern Clays (and other chips). I was allways successful in removing gunk and ground in color bleed but these methods had absolutley no improvment on these tough old Blue chips.

Desperate, I eyed a bag of 0000 steel wool I had in the garage.
The results were impressive. No damage to the chip, no noticable "white dust" removed (just pink).
The inlay came out great too with no damage (in fact, I thought they were permanently faded before I restored these chips to their glory).

Before and After shots:





Emboldened by this, I tried some other similarly abrasive (but supposedly) gentle products.
All of the below products, EXCEPT the 0000 steel wool, produced chip wear and extra white dust removed from the chip.
While this worked on Blue Chips, I would caution to experiment carefully with all other chips as they are softer. Blue chips are very hard.
I hope this helps anyone with a similar situation.

Edit: the 3m "sandblaster" product worked well, but tears apart like a "magic eraser" and is not cost effective for large #'s of chips.

[A-Ro]

That's incredible....nice work!

[JM]

Hard to believe those are even the same chips!

[pkf655]

very impressive. Can you give us an estimate on about how long per chip it took? Did you oil them afterwards or is that just the way the color came out?

[EmptyPocs]

Originally Posted by pkf655

very impressive. Can you give us an estimate on about how long per chip it took? Did you oil them afterwards or is that just the way the color came out?

I did not oil these. They were well worn and really didn't need it even though new blue chips allways do. These were pretty old and felt 'casino' worn.
When I finish them all I will oil them anyhow.

The process is time consuming. I've only finished 100 of 600. I do it to kill time when I want to turn my brain off.
I have not done a batch in over a month. I usually can only do 10-15 in a session (about an hour, time flies when your having fun). When I going strong I did 25 a week, taking 2 sessions (hours).

I rub the wool back and forth (scrub) 3-5x in 3rds on each face, then sometimes and extra few swirl on the inlay. The edges are a pain. Basically doubling the time with the same 5x3 scrubs or more.
I do it in a large baking pan because the wool disintergrates into particles. Eventually you have to get another pad, but they last allot longer than Magic Eraser, work faster, and don't cost nearly as much.

When I'm done I brush them with a toothbrush under cold water to remove the steel dust. Then I soak them in an oxyclean bath for 10 minutes, and re-rinse. Walla.

I did get a good deal on these chips. I'm not quite sure if I would not just buy new chips for the extra $$ next time. I never expected the color bleed to be soo darn tough to remove. At least now I know how to handle the rest of my Blues when they get that bad.
I hope it helps anyone who already has chips like these and they have been frustrated in getting them clean.

[7thSeat]

Thanks for this tip. Crazy but functional it seems
I have never heard of someone even thought of this. Good experiment.

[poislb]

Excellent job, dont know how you came up with the idea to use it but looks like it works rather well...Thanks for the tip

[EmptyPocs]

Previous to trying this I had tried an ultrasonic cleaning in jewelry soap (ammonia soap) and peroxide, scrubbing with an electric toothbrush, and soaking in oxylean. None of them worked at all !

I'd like to try oldcycles rotorooter bio-stuff. The scrubbing is very time consuming.

~~~~~~~~~~
Another side comment and word of warning: these chips were worn from years of use and were positively "glazed".
Doing this on new blue chips may produce more wear than you will be happy with. I have not tried this on my newer chips and would only do so as a last resort.

~~~~~~~~~~
Also, it is interesting that this scrubbing did not wear down the cross-hatched surface (at least not noticably). That is what I found most astonishing.

[Oldcycles]

When you do the edges do them in stacks of 5 or 10, it makes it much easier.

[EmptyPocs]

Originally Posted by Oldcycles

When you do the edges do them in stacks of 5 or 10, it makes it much easier.

I sometimes do. But I wind up re-doing most individually. They become uneven and I miss too much of the glaze.
I should try putting them in a rack do they don't shift as much by hand.