Verdegris & Tsuba : how to clean

[Christophe]

Hello everybody,
I have a question: I have a tsuba with “verdigris” stains. How to clean it without damaging it?
My thanks for your help.
Christopher

[Stephen]

Very tricky I'd send to Ford or one of his students. 

[Christophe]

Thanks Stephen, for the advice.

Christophe

[Tim Evans]

Cleaning corrosion off tsuba represents an element of risk because it is not possible to tell if the patina and/or base plate is damaged underneath (probably should assume some). If it is extensive, then you may need to have a professional address the damage and repatination.

The first step is to decide if this tsuba is valuable enough to require paying a professional to restore it. 

Verdigis is usually a copper chloride or copper sulfate compound

 

That said, if you decide to clean the verdigis your self, I have had some success with the following approach:

Step 1 is to soak briefly in alcohol to remove any accumulated oils from handling. 

Step 2 is to soak in room temperature DISTILLED water. Distilled water should be just H2O with no dissolved minerals or chemicals such as chlorine

Distilled water is commonly available in the US because it is used in steam irons. Not sure if available in Japan

The verdigis can dissolve in the distilled water, so it will need to be changed every few days 

The process is slow, it may take weeks or months depending on how extensive is the corrosion. That also makes it controllable so you can stop doing it when an acceptable level of reduction is reached

You are just soaking it in water so that should not otherwise damage the tsuba. That is assuming that the black color has not been touched up using ink or paint, which might come off with either the alcohol or water

 

Your mileage may vary

[Stephen]

Before trying I'd ask @Ford Hallam 

To be safe

[vajo]

Your are located in Japan? I think there are a lot of artist who can help you.

[Stephen]

Tks Chris I d I didn't catch that

[Stephen]

Christopher which way did you proceed? Results?

[Christophe]

Hi every one, sorry for the absence of answer from me (major health problem), and thank you for your answers.

Christophe