Cleaning old spoons

saanauk

Well-Known Member
Came across a 5 gallon bucket of old fishing gear that I could not pass up. There are a bunch of older spoons but they are pretty tarnished. What is the best way to clean them up.

Photo of a few.
C72A685D-B6EC-4185-B7C0-FAD2789A9244.jpeg
 
I have used Twinkle metal polish for over 30 years and it works well.
 
i bought a cotton buffing wheel for my six bench grinder. it was like $12. when it’s spinning put some polishing compound on the wheel and giver. you can polish those old spoons up to a mirror finish. Note: be extremely careful of the hooks; better yet just remove them altogether. high speed spinny rotaty things and hooks are not a good combo
 
What kinda deal did you get on the bucket of spoons if you don’t mind telling?
Well got the a five gallon bucket of old fishing gear and a two tray old tackle box with gear for $25 off Craigslist. One of those deals where there were just two pictures of the tackle that were not great and the person was asking for offers. Took a chance and offered without really being able to see the contents. The photo I posted has about half the spoons. There are old Tomic plugs, salmon flies, and other misc gear as well.
 
Soak them in a dish or pail of white vinegar for a couple hours, polish with extra fine steel wool. Will remove most of the tarnish. Buy a tube of Flitz metal polish to put on the final shine.
The formula I read said mix vinegar with salt - soak them for a few minutes - then soak them in water/baking soda to neutralize the vinegar/salt solution. I think that after that you will want to buff them. I would hesitate on any metal polish as the scent MIGHT repel fish - dunno. IMO steel wool is too abrasive. They make small buffing wheels for dremel tools.
 
I had pretty good results with a hearty load of ketchup, then leave for a couple hours. The vinegar/acid inside it and the mild abrasive nature of ketchup worked rather well.
 
The issue is the salt / dissimilar metal etc will etch or eat away at the metal plated finish.

These lures are likely made of brass. If you use anything too aggressive you will sand through the plating. Anything not abrasive enough will not remove the buildup.you should find a grey scotch brite pad approx 700 grit. The steel wool is good too but you have to make sure you get all the steel dust off or the spoons will rust.
Once the heavy lifting is done the the polish is next as described. The soak is great too.
If you have any favourites they can also be re played. Good score tho!
 
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Lagostina pot cleaner works miracles ! It is a lot like old school Comet Cleanser. Then a finish polishing with Flitz or Peak metal polish.

CRGreg
 
Remove and discard all of the old hooks. New black ones can be found at Pacific Net & twine.

Start off with this:

308a1ea9-46f4-4d66-a545-fd84b582bfc3_1.abdbdf4af0d032fedb108fff201f77f1.jpeg

Apply wet and let stand for around 10-15 minutes.
Then polish carefully with a wet cloth.
This will remove the corrosion.

Final polish with this:

51Z-q6OIEnL._AC_.jpg


That will result in the absolute best mirror finish you can get.
And is exactly the method we use on the troller for those same spoons.

Cheers,
Nog
 
After the metal polish do you ever find that you need to hit them with some kind of scent?

This came up in a conversation I was having recently with my dad about the lures we made when I was a kid. He was saying he thought it took a long time for the paint smell to completely dissipate, and that he thought it affected how attractive they were to fish.

That made me wonder if everyone else is hitting all their spoons with scent, particularly after cleaning them with chemical whatever. I never have in the past but maybe I should.

Thoughts?
 
Remove and discard all of the old hooks. New black ones can be found at Pacific Net & twine.

Start off with this:

308a1ea9-46f4-4d66-a545-fd84b582bfc3_1.abdbdf4af0d032fedb108fff201f77f1.jpeg

Apply wet and let stand for around 10-15 minutes.
Then polish carefully with a wet cloth.
This will remove the corrosion.

Final polish with this:

51Z-q6OIEnL._AC_.jpg


That will result in the absolute best mirror finish you can get.
And is exactly the method we use on the troller for those same spoons.

Cheers,
Nog

Perfect. Ordered some of both. Thanks!
 
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