Yesterday I went to an amazing local antique shop and got my sister two birthdays presents... vintage sheet music (she sings and plays piano) and a vintage cigarette case (not encouraging her bad habit, it fits credit cards so she can use it as a wallet).
The case, according to the seller, is made from nickel with a "W. Germany" stamp inside and beautiful filigree etching on both sides. The inside however is tarnished on one side with what I believe is tobacco tar. I looked around online and washed it first in a mild, warm soapy water... then I proceed to polish it with toothpaste (which works amazingly well on silver btw). The outside is shiny and pretty but no matter how hard I tried I could only get about 50% of the tar off. I used a soft cloth (the kind meant for cleaning screens and such) to "scrub" it, I didn't want to use anything rougher because apparently nickel scratches easy...
Does anyone have any idea how I can clean the tar rest off without damaging the metal?
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How to clean a vintage cigarette case
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http://justsomethingimade.com/2008/10/more-vintage-repurposed/
Hey I just say this, maybe if you can't get it clean you can redo the inside with some cute fabric!
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@monika - I should try that next, baking soda is supposed to work well
@Pamala - thats so cute! I love the idea of the fabric pocket but the case is so thin I don't know if it could hold very many cards...
The removable elastic strips inside were so brittle and stretched they broke almost immediately. Fortunately I found some ribbon crimps and had the right size elastic to replace them. If I can't get it clean I think lining it with some pretty fabric is the next step :)
Thanks you guys!
