Cleaning cameo ???

Just googled it.
Apparently Target sells it here. From the ingredients, looks like it might have a nice fragrance.

Working Hands has no fragrance - one of the things many people like about it.

 

@clutteredcloset49
Get some O'Keefe's Working Hands. Distributed by Gorilla Glue. Absolutely wonderful stuff. Use at night before bed. Those cracks will heal in a couple of days.
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Thanks for the tip. I learn all kinds of things here.

 

I'm really funny about smells. Many make me feel nauseous. Soap and Glory has a lovely slightly fresh fruity smell of kiwi. And it's only faint, too. It feels really good going on and you don't end up with gloopy paws.

 

This is what I have done for cleaning a shell cameo:
- Clean with warm water with mild dish soap and a soft toothbrush.
- Dry it thoroughly.
- Using a Q-tip apply baby oil, let it sit a few hours. The soap and water can dry the shell cameo out, the baby oil helps stop that.
- Wipe the excess off with a soft cloth like an old t-shirt. Do not use paper towels, some of them have fibers imbedded in them to give them strength and they can scratch delicate things like shell.

BUT - wait to see what Bronwen says, she will know if this is the right thing to do or not!

 

Tooooooooooo funny!

 

Baby oil. See replies above!

 

Hilarious

I was going to suggest that he shave.
#1 HeadBlade ATX All-Terrain Head Razor


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Thanks. Love my job. But then there's the days you just wanna screaaaaammmm

 

Here you go Davey...

 

Looks like your ends have already (made like a banana &) split.

 

The cameo is shell, with a fair degree of accumulated grunge. All of the advice already given is perfectly sound, if a bit more cautious than is probably necessary for a first time cleaning.

Never, ever, any kind of heavy duty cleanser, nothing made for removing stubborn soap scum, killing germs or whitening teeth & no vinegar. No ultrasonic cleaning. For something like this I use a dab of dish washing liquid (think I currently have Palmolive in the kitchen; Dawn is just fine) in tepid tap water & a very long soak, often over night, followed by an energetic brushing with a soft toothbrush. I use a child's little one for the fine soft bristles; the essential bit is soft. Typically I find, after the lather is rinsed off, that there is still grime in the deeper places. Back into the bubble bath it goes to loosen up the next layer. Since I prefer my cameos pristine, this can take 3 or even more rounds.

When you are satisfied with the result, pat dry - paper towel is fine for this - then allow to air dry thoroughly before closing it into any kind of box.

Oiling is another matter of personal preference. I do not oil my shell pieces. The reason dish washing liquid works so well is that it is formulated to remove grease, & it is skin oil picked up from handling that leads to cameo grunge in the first place. A good friend who is a devout oiler tells me that with time the oil gets a dull look & the piece has to be cleaned & oiled again to maintain appearance. On the other hand, it may serve to keep the shell hydrated for longer than it would otherwise stay. If you decide to give oiling a try, then you do need to remove the excess with something clean, soft & lint free.

No doubt it would make a museum conservator blanch, but I do not worry about using distilled water, etc., as you will sometimes see advised. I occasionally use baking soda toothpaste on shell without problem. Even a brief dunking in jewellery dip mild enough for pearls does no harm, although also does not seem to be especially useful.

As long as you do not leave a cameo in conditions that may lead to Byne's 'disease' or where some naughty cat will turn it into a plaything...

 

Thanks for the details, Bronwen! I also have never oiled my cameos but have occasionally wondered whether I should start doing that. I had never soaked them for so long, either. I feel good about that possibility now.

 

I put a container of this in the guys stockings every Christmas because they are out there in all weather working.

 

Moist is shell's natural condition. Excessive dryness makes it brittle. Sometimes a good soaking will minimize the appearance of hairlines and/or tighten up a cameo that rattles a little in its bezel.

I once asked a dealer in shells what collectors in her field do for care. She heartily endorsed soaking. She also recommended adding a little baby oil to the water. Since the oil would float on top, the benefit would be in distributing it evenly over the surface as the shell was removed. Probably easier than trying to spread oil by rubbing.

Oiling is very much a cosmetic treatment, so very much a question of taste. It can definitely improve the appearance of a cameo that has suffered dulling of the background layer due to Byne's or overzealous cleaning, although it cannot repair it.

 

I took a tortoiseshell set to the British Museum once. They recommended olive oil as a smear to bring back the look.

 

Commercial jewellery dip does something similar for scuffed up gemstones: leaves a residue of some kind of polymer on the surface, filling in fine scratches, creating a smoother, shinier stone, at least temporarily. It will do this with cameos too, but I don't like the plastic-y feel afterward.

Tortoiseshell can just crumble if it gets too dried out. It is essentially the protein product keratin, so has very different care requirements from shell/coral/pearl, which are really mineral in nature.

 

Didn't know for the jewellery dip stuff containing polymers, I never used it!
I clean nearly all with soapy water (except paste/rhinestones pieces which go with a kind of ammonia windex!).


My old turtleshell pieces (tiara combs, brushes, boxes) are happy with periodic oiling, left for one night to penetrate before a good wipe.
Coral too appreciate to be slightly oiled.
It repairs white dry spots on red coral

 

Cleaning rhinestones with windex is a huge problem unless you use an almost dry soft toothbrush or Q-tip. Any moisture that gets on the back of the rhinestone can degrade the foil backing and you will get blackened or "dead" rhinestones. That is especially a problem with prong set rhinestones.

What I do is dip a soft toothbrush in alcohol, shake it off so it is almost dry and use that to clean the piece. I have a hair dryer at the ready and dry the piece off immediately. The alcohol gets off gunk like old hairspray (I can't tell you how many pieces I get are covered with that!) and it also removes oils. Because it evaporates so quickly it is safer to use. If there is old glue on the rhinestones acetone or nail polish remover will get it off, but beware, it dissolves the glue and the rhinestone may pop out.

Please...no more Windex