Featured I think this was a necklace.

Thank you for testing this and showing the result.
So when you took the beads out of the mineral oil did you wipe them down? Did any of the verdigris come off.
Looks like the ketchup doesn't require any extra work after soaking.
Using a cloth soaked in mineral oil and wiping down the metal parts, might retard any come back of the verdigris.

 

Sorry it took so long to respond. Things were a bit crazy here. The mineral oil alone didn't do anything. There wasn't any change at all so I put it into the cup with the vinegar. As I said, things got crazy and it was in the vinegar for over an entire day before I remembered it was still soaking! Here is the result next to the other two tests.

 

Joan thank you for those posts. Very interesting and very helpful.

It looks like ketchup still does the best job. The oil and vinegar mix is a slightly different color but that could be the unintentional, extra long, vinegar bath.

I'm going to remove the rest like I did with these. Then I will see how they look all together with that aged, semi cleaned, brass before I start pulling everything apart.

 

I've always had the best luck with ketchup.

 

In my experience Mineral oil really just softens the crud, which still has to be scraped off.
I think the tomato acid makes ketchup a better crud eater, but hate the cleanup so still use plain vinegar. If a piece can take it (no rhinestones, pearls, coral etc) I will leave it soaking for days or even longer with no ill effects.

 

Tomato ketchup is great for cleaning metal findings. But don't use it on plated or gilded findings, it will take the precious layer off as well.

 

How good is it on fur ?

 

Looks silver plated, so I wouldn't try it.
One of my cats used to go crazy over sliced cucumber, she would snatch it from my hand and start munching. Another one loved avocado.

 

cats will eat anything they want.....but not anything you feed them !!!