Cleaning Old Things.

[Bigbad]

I have a Cadbury’s biscuit tin from (possibly) 1950.
It has some rust, lots of tarnish, and some old sellotape on it which is stuck fast!
What could I use to clean it?
There is a picture on the lid, so I don’t want that to be damaged.

I also have a 40 year old pewter tankard that needs cleaning. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[Buenchico]

The tankard should be easy enough to deal with:
https://www.craftedcupcompany.com/how-should-i-care-for-my-pewter-tankard/

I'm not offering any guarantees but, if I had to clean the biscuit tine, I'd start by soaking it in warm, soapy water for quite a long time. With a bit of luck that will loosen the Sellotape. Then it would probably need a mixture of tough cleaning (e.g. with scouring powder applied via a toothbrush) on the really rusty bits and gentle cleaning (e.g. with cotton buds, possibly dipped in white spirit) elsewhere.

[Bigbad]

Thank you Buenchico.
The tankard (not shiny) just looks a bit tarnished really.
Scouring powder - what a blast from the past! Can you still buy it?

I did some old jewellery earlier with some ‘Silvo’ and I have spent all day trying to think what the smell was, and when I read your suggestion of white spirit, I realised that’s what it was.

[KARL]

I would avoid water altogether with the biscuit tin - since rust has already made an appearance it is likely to accelerate sharply under any moist conditions which is precisely why it started in the first place. I would firstly get the sticky tape off by applying isopropyl alcohol which hopefully will dissolve any dried up adhesive residue, although unless you already have some it is likely to be difficult to get (car paint shops are very likely to have some) - do a test first in a suitable area just in case the paint finish is affected (most unlikely). One alternative would be to apply petroleum grease or perhaps petroleum jelly (vaseline), leave it on for a day or two and then clean it off with something like white spirit. This latter approach will also give you an opportunity to rub the tarnished/rusty areas (before degreasing) fairly hard with a cloth of synthetic fabric as this should take off much/most of the tarnish - again do a test first just in case. The use of scouring powder operates similar to fine sandpaper and will take off a layer from the surface (paint, electroplating, etc.) and I would not recommend that, the powder usually also includes a component which becomes acid when mixed with water and releases chlorine (not beneficial in this case).

[Tilly2]

A drop of lighter fuel will get rid of the sellotape.

[Bigbad]

Thank you for your input folks.
Just in case you are interested, I lined up lots of different cleaning products, soft toothbrushes and cleaning sticks, then last minute chose to use just warm soapy water.

It was a mistake! Although the tin is now reasonably clean, some of the colour came off, and the picture faded. I have dried it thoroughly, and it has been left out to air.
Oh well. It could have been worse if I’d used any chemicals!

The tankard, however, cleaned up nicely.