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Cleaning clear gloss off arrowheads?

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  • Cleaning clear gloss off arrowheads?

    Hi folks,

    I recently bought a old collection of arrowheads that were glued to fabric in a display case. After soaking them in hot water they came off the fabric pretty easy but I then saw that several of them had been sprayed with a clear gloss on the displayed side. I have heard that old timers did this but have not ran into it until now. I'm thinking that soaking them in lacquer thinner will take it right off but I'm worried it will also remove the patina? I'm looking for suggestions about how I should clean them. Any help is much appreciated.

    Von

  • #2
    Try acetone
    As for me and my house , we will serve the lord

    Everett Williams ,
    NW Arkansas

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    • #3
      Good question Von my local antique store always has glossed artifacts. Some nice stuff but the gloss? Starting to think there applying it there.
      N.C. from the mountains to the sea

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      • #4
        Have you used acetone successfully? Does it remove the patina?

        Von
        Last edited by Von; 09-09-2017, 08:44 PM.

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        • #5
          I have read that old timers use to spray their artifacts with a clear coat. If they are doing it at the store tell them to stop if they want you to consider buying them!

          Von

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          • #6
            I have used to remove cured paint , but never on artifacts .... try it on a rock and see what it does
            As for me and my house , we will serve the lord

            Everett Williams ,
            NW Arkansas

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            • #7
              i would think the acetone would remove the patina,but not sure

              i have a used CITRI STRIP to remove varnish from old antlers and it works well on them,leaves the natural color(including the natural chocolate brown) on the bone.
              might be worth a try on the artifacts

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              • #8
                I should have thought about that and I think I have some. My wife and I used it on some furniture this spring. I think it would be easier on the patina?

                Von

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                • #9
                  Acetone will not hurt patina. I would not soak the point in acetone but just swab it with acetone soaked cotton swab. Wear butyl rubber gloves to protect your skin even then check the rating on the gloves as solvents can and will penetrate over time. Do not pour acetone into styrofoam and try to use it outdoors as it does stink and is highly flammable.
                  TN formerly CT Visit our store http://stores.arrowheads.com/store.p...m-Trading-Post

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                  • #10
                    You might try 90% alcohol. I use it to strip paint off die cast models & it doesn't affect metal. Or try acetone-based fingernail polish remover on a cotton swab.
                    Child of the tides

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                    • #11
                      Thanks to all! My wife has nail polish remover and we also have some Citri Strip. I'm going to use both and see what they look like under a black light. I'll let you know how it works out?

                      Von

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                      • Havenhunter
                        Havenhunter commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Make sure the polish remover is acetone based. A lot of the polish removers are acetone free-/ and not worth a durn imo.

                    • #12
                      I'd try water for a few day's first. Do You think Shellac spray might be on them?
                      http://joshinmo.weebly.com

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                      • Von
                        Von commented
                        Editing a comment
                        Hi,

                        Thanks for the suggestion but soaking them in water was the first thing I tried. It didn't touch it so I don't think it's Shellac. If I had the patients to soak them for a month the water may eat into it?

                        Von

                    • #13
                      If you haven't done it yet, use paint and varnish remover. ZipStrip or similar product. Spray it on or brush it on. It will bubble a little bit. Let it on for about 10-15 min., then wash it off. Preferably using an outside water source, you don't want the residue to go down your drain. I've done this to hundreds of stone artifacts, it won't hurt the surface or patina. I've even used this for pottery. I got a nice pottery vessel her husband found, but they thought it was an antique flower pot! So she painted it with three layers of green paint, one layer being oil based. ZipStrip took it all off in about a half hour, didn't ruin the pottery surface at all.
                      http://www.ravensrelics.com/

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                      • #14
                        Thank you for the information. I'm procrastinating about getting this done because I want to finish the job soon after I start. Work is taking all my time right now too. We have two types of paint stripper. One is Citri Strip and I'm not sure about the other? It may be Zip-Strip? I'm having knee surgery near the end of Sept and I'm going to have a few weeks to tinker so I may wait until then to experiment and see what works best.

                        Von

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                        • #15
                          Hi folks,

                          Citri Strip seems to work pretty good on most points but you should be careful with sugar quartz points and points with hinge fractures. The Citri Strip turns white when it dries. And even though I didn't allow it to dry it took some soaking in water and extra cleaning on a few pieces. Acetone also worked well and didn't change the patina when I used a black light. My opinion is that acetone is the better of the two because it cleaned up easier.

                          Von

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