For those listening in on the subject of cleaning the sticky iron, here's the results so far.
 
I used mineral spirits and then Dawn dishwashing soap with water (don't worry, I've stopped using the water now) the first go round on two iron trivets.  It worked some but not enough.  Then, at Dave's suggestion, I used mineral spirits, 0000 steel wool, and then acetone.  It worked really well.  
 
For the iron pan, I followed much the same process.  The inside is good and clean but it may take a few more tries with the spirits and the steel wool for the bottom of the pan.  
 
For a large copper pot that was covered in wax (had been used for candle making and was never cleaned), I tried hot water which only succeeded in removing the largest chunks of wax.  Another conservator had suggested I use a hair dryer to melt the wax.  That's fine if you only have one or two spots of wax, but not if the pot is covered in the stuff.  In the end, it took a lot of work with the mineral spirits.  If you try this, don't worry if you don't see immediate results.  It takes a while.  Don't do this if the copper is painted. 
 
For those who haven't worked with acetone or who have allergies to those kinds of materials, I did suffer a severe migraine while working with the acetone.  I was standing near an open exterior door while working with it but I guess I'm just sensitive.  I will try working with a mask next time.   Second, definitely spring for the chemical resistant gloves. I thought that's what I had, but the acetone slowly ate away the finger pads on my gloves.
 
Lastly, I have a few questions for the list.  Have any of you had experience with painted copper?  Is there a reason that copper pots for cooking would be painted black on the outside or could this just smoke and ash from being used over a campfire for years?  Would years of soot chip off (like old paint) or rub off?
 
Thanks.
 
Meredith
 
Virginia Beach Historic Houses
3131 Virginia Beach Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: 757-431-4000
Fax: 757-431-3733
Email: [log in to unmask]

________________________________

From: Museum discussion list on behalf of Jerrie Clarke
Sent: Sat 11/18/2006 12:02 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Cleaning Sticky Iron



However, please let us know the outcome.

Thanks,
Jerrie

Jerrie Clarke
Contract Collection Manager
Nevada, Utah, Alaska -- so far


--- David Harvey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

 Meredith,

 Without seeing this object it is awfully hard to judge what is going on - it could just be a really heavy parafin coating (wax) or many layers of a degraded organic oil or something else. Since you said that it turned sticky then I'm leaning towards some sort of wax. The fact that the mineral spirits did have an affect also suggests possible wax. The degraded organic oil that I found on that stove top figure hard was extremely hard and really did not soften or swell appreciably.

Adding wax over a sticky surface will just make it worse. Why don't you send me some digital photos of this
 thing with some close-ups of the area where you have tested the mineral spirits and we'll pursue some other ideas off of the list.
 I know that my many friends and colleagues on here are probably fascinated by all of this but sometimes the back-and-forth communication about an object needs to be more focused without 3000 people listening in.

 Cheers!
 Dave

Conservator
Los Angeles



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