Hi All, I saw the interesting post about soaking points in mineral oil, but wanted to bring up the subject that I know many folks do do, to remove caliche deposits off alot of dug points & sometimes to attempt stain removal & this involves soaking artifacts in plain ole vineager. I first saw people doing this at TAAA digs many years ago, it seemed to work pretty well, with no real side effects to the artifacts, comments or beliefs on this??? I myself have used vineager on a few of my artifacts that have had the hard, welded on caliche deposits on them & have had great success at cleaning them in this manner. I do, as a precaution, try to soak such artifacts for no more than 15-20 minutes in pure vineager, then use a old toothbrush & running water to finish cleaning them. Thoughts on this one? John

I would feel the same way about soaking natural deposits and stains from a point as I would feel about soaking the patina from a Colt 1851 Revolver.

I'm kind of in same camp as Redman, I remove the dirt but like the patina and deposits.

Vinegar is a staple tool of the fossil people. Many Texas fossils are embedded in limestone matrix, the mild acid in cooking vinegar ( 9% )is good for loosening
that last lingering "haze" on the fossil.

Acid on flint is just a personal option. I'm a water & toothbrush only person BUT I have to admit it's tempting for finds along the Devils river ( W TX )... Due to local mineralization all the flint is coated with a stubborn dirt, not scale !
Comes off after long water soaking but acid speeds up the desired results.

Sortta like wiping some slopped mustard off a 1851 Colt