cleaning of badges

[chic]

Can anyone tell me if i should clean or polish the badges i have bought, if so how?.
(One for Harribobs i think).
                                      Chic.

[Wendi]

(One for Harribobs i think).

In the mean time Chic The Imperial War Museum has some advice for you 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100p008006

and don't forget "Don’t clean at all if they have an attractive and even-coloured ‘patina’, showing that they have never been cleaned and rarely handled." 

Wendi 

[chic]

Thanks Wendi, i will leave them alone.
                                    Chic.

[harribobs]

i'm not much help anyway on this, i'm not a collector of medals, i have a few i've rescued but none of them are cleaned 

[chic]

Ok,thanks harribobs             
                            Chic.

[Robert Bonner]

Chic.

The anwer is really quite simple.  What would the original owner of the badge have done when he was a serving soldier.  He would certainly have kept it clean and if necessary polished it.  Whatever the rank of the original owner he would not have gone on parade with a dirty badge.  Not in the British Army and certainly not in the Manchester Regiment!!

[harribobs]

i afraid i read this as cleaning medals,   i do keep my badges clean, but not highly polished.

i tend to use either brasso for brass (surprise surprise) but after i have used it, i rinse and lightly brush them ( i use an old toothbrush or mandy's if she's not around)  i don't like huge deposits of old brasso that have been built up over the year, i think they take away detail and don't look good at all.

on silver or white metal, i prefer a silver dip again and again rinse and brush. on both i use a polishing cloth that a jeweller gave me.

i admit there are a few i don't make a big deal out of cleaning because i like the aged patina on them but there's a difference between that and muck!

[chic]

Thanks chaps, i will get out the brasso ,and Lindas toothbrush 

                                              Chic.