[Tatdave]

I had 100 utterly disgusting Paulson $1 I picked up a while back off ebay. They were some from old card room and well worn, but I figured they might still have a bit of life left in them. Originally, I tried to clean them with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. That worked well but it was a hell of a lot of work. Not feeling like cleaning them all, I completed 20 and set the rest aside.

Now, two years later, I figured I'd try to clean them again and found the thread about Oxi Clean being a wonder on Paulsons. I figured anything was better than scrubbing them, so I picked up a small tub of Oxi and headed to the kitchen. Making a rather stiff brew, I dropped 10 chips into the mix, sloshed them around and checked after 5 min. They looked so much better I grabbed the rack and dumped them all in. A little more agitating of the mix and I let them sit for another 10-15 min. They came out looking quite nice. Perhaps they could have sat a bit longer, but the 1% or so I might have gained didn't seem worth it. I rinsed them and set them out on towels to dry.

I then thought of my 'computer chips,' the ones I have sitting by my PC that I shuffle daily. 10 original Paulson JBs and 10 ASM Rincon $1s. I went and grabbed my daily companions for the past few years and tossed them into the brew.

You know what's ahead...

After about 3 min, figuring that these weren't nearly as dirty as the card room chips, I reached in and pulled out a JB and it looked dandy, so I put it in the colander for rinsing. I grabbed another out, Paulson, clean as could be. Grabbed another, this time a Rincon. It looked a bit hazy, but I thought it might just be the suds, so I rinced it. Hmm...fuzzy looking. I touched it with the Magic Eraser and looked in horror as the eraser showed a streak of gray. I dropped that chip out of the mix and tried to scoop out as many Rincons as fast I could.

Sadly, there were no survivors. They were effectively melted. I could rub them and see they would crumble under my touch. They turned into the consistency of a soft art pastel. Hell, I bet I could have made a painting with them.

Yes, I was dumb and assumed the ASM would clean up the same as the Paulsons. Now I'll always test each type of chip before I try a new cleaning method. Hopefully, my loss will at least stop others from melting some chips.

<I know it's worthless without chip pix, but I just tossed the Rins out as soon as I pulled them out... it was too sad to see them suffering.>

[mizuchaud]

Lead resists Oxi Clean......

[EmptyPocs]

thanks for the tip.
I have used Oxy brew to clean BCC chips (many hundreds) and never had a problem (although after they need a re-oiling).
I would not have expected it to trash any other chips.

[Vince]

I always clean paulsons that way and was about to do so with ASM. Luckily I only dropped 10 ASM in. They were not completly lost, but the colors ran straight out of the chips.
btw do not use warm or hot water! since heat is the arch enemy of any clay chip.

[the3rd]

Does Billy Mays know about this?

Thanks for sharing. I never would have thought the same cleanser would effect chips so differently.