Cleaning a Thimble

Thimble is one of the most common finds that can be made with a metal detecor. Because of its shape and all the dots, it’s not that easy to clean. This one is a modern one. It’s made of a brass alloy indicating it’s 100-150 years old. To start we’ve used the brass brush of the precision pencil. This will get rid of most of the dirt. We’re not scared to scratch the thimble as it’s pointless to keep the dark uneven oxydation layer. We’ll try to make it shiny as it was when the owner originally purchased it. We decided to clean half of the surface and let the other one uncleaned to show the difference. To get rid othe dirt stuck in holes, we used the brass thin tip. On older thimbles whose alloy contains more copper or bronze, it’s highly recommended not to use the brass brush as it may damage the nice green oxydation and use instead glass fiber tip.