Thread: How do I remove water stains from Gold wash etching??

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Watchmakers dip the plated watch parts in Ammonia. It gives them a brilliant shine. Most jewelry cleaners contain mostly Ammonia too. Of course I've never tried it myself on a razor but I can't see it causing damage.

Hmmm as strong as ammonia smells, don't think I want to take that risk. Also have to be concerned of corrosives.

Maybe an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner (~$20-30) would vibrate off the rust, but leave the gold if it's stuck on better than the rust...

Originally Posted by komjong

Yeah, I like the way it looks and would like to keep it intact as long as possible. I've tried lime juice and that seems to have worked a little. I'll get it! I am determined! This is a great moment for innovation to kick in!

For spots, possibly try a Q-tip with some MAAS on the end and go at spots one at the time. For larger streaks of stain, I don't know. I love gold-wash and have decided just to tolerate any discoloration that can't be removed without hurting the gold-wash.

We have so many talented members who can do everything up to and including manufacture a razor from start to finish. BUT we don't seem to have a resident amateur jeweler who could replace the goldwash for us.

Any volunteers?????

Replacing goldwash is not such a problem. You can buy plating kits but the etch beneath it is usually a goner once the corrosion is dealt with.

Interesting question. I hope someone comes up with a solution. The only razors I have with gold etching are Filarmonicas. I have a Filarmonica #12, #13 and a #14 and I have cleaned all three by hand (no power tools) using Flitz Polish-Paste and a cotton gun cleaning patch without any noticable problems. Flitz Polish-Paste claims to be non-abrasive, however it is not for electroplated finishes according to their web site.

I do not know if Filarmonica used an electroplating process to apply their gold finish. If so, maybe I was just lucky.

Prior to this Thread raising my curiosity, I never read the entire Flitz product description. I was not aware that it should not be used on electroplated finishes. Flitz is a great polish and I will continue to use it, however I am going to be much more careful with my gold finishes in the future. Thanks

I was just reading in another post, that there IS a place that will replace your gold plating.

I had the same problem. This worked well for me, I took a pencil with and eraser on the end, and with green vertas honing compound from lee valley, I heated it up a bit with a lighter and to apply it to the eraser, and just kept erasing the stain. It was not to fast it took a while but worked. I removed the stains, was able to be accurate with the eraser and work around the gold etching.