Using coke to clean wedges

[el marko]

Just recieved some new wedges from eBay, not very happy with the state of them and was hoping to clean them up. Have read up on putting them in coke overnight to clean them up but im worried about the paint infills.

The wedges are copper V forged Callaways

Has anybody done this before?

 

[talksalot81]

I am a chemist and we manufacture cleaning products...

Coke has always been pretty good like this and there is little concern with paint. What is happening is that the phosphoric acid in the coke is basically dissolving a little bit of the club and you are now seeing some fresh metal that has never been exposed to the air previously. It would be the same result if you took a bit of your kettle descaling product to them... and you wouldn't ruin some perfectly good coke:rofl:

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I thought that the corrosion was supposed to form, to help the club grip the ball and add more spin?

 

[Oddsocks]

I thought that the corrosion was supposed to form, to help the club grip the ball and add more spin?

I think vokey proved that's all ball-axe hence the rusty series being dropped

 

[Hunka Turf]

I'd be interested to see these, post-coke

 

[StrangelyBrown]

I think vokey proved that's all ball-axe hence the rusty series being dropped

Heh :thup:

 

[JustOne]

Weird - pink wedges. I'd leave 'em as they are... all weird looking

 

[el marko]

They meant to look like below, will give the coke a go when i get some:thup:

 

[Wolfman]

Coke has a pH value of approx 3pH which is acidic

I wouldn't leave them overnight but maybe soak them for an hour or two, watch out for the ferrule to shaft joint

However the result will be short lived as oxidation will occur again and they will lose their sparkle

 

[Oddsocks]

I learned with the mp10t wedges that any finish other than silver is a right pain in he aris to keep looking decent, employed the attitude of " their scoring clubs not trophys" ..... But get why your pissed as my wedges after 1 round looked two years old!

 

[bluewolf]

I used Coke to clean some wedges once. Didn't clean them up particularly well, but on the plus side I spent all night dancing and chatting...............

 

[duncan mackie]

slightly confused....

on the one hand you are talking about paint infill, and on the other you reference 'cleaning' with coke (a mild acid)

you might have to start with a paint stripper....moving on as required....but with a thorough water based cleaning (care) inbetween using any chemicals

there's also the slight issue of cleaning 'copper' with any acid - they will react somewhat differently with copper although I accept that they will be copper alloys not pure copper!

 

[el marko]

slightly confused....

on the one hand you are talking about paint infill, and on the other you reference 'cleaning' with coke (a mild acid)

you might have to start with a paint stripper....moving on as required....but with a thorough water based cleaning (care) inbetween using any chemicals

there's also the slight issue of cleaning 'copper' with any acid - they will react somewhat differently with copper although I accept that they will be copper alloys not pure copper!

All i want to do is try and return them to as close to new, i don't want to strip the paint off hence being worried the coke may do that, but have be told otherwise.

Not exactly pissed off and am aware it is rather a pointless exercise but they look so cool in the pictures and want to see how they look when cleaned up

 

[ScienceBoy]

I would take care with copper clubs, the dust is toxic due to the beryllium content. Its more of a long term thing so no welding your wedges!

 

[duncan mackie]

All i want to do is try and return them to as close to new, i don't want to strip the paint off hence being worried the coke may do that, but have be told otherwise.

Not exactly pissed off and am aware it is rather a pointless exercise but they look so cool in the pictures and want to see how they look when cleaned up

ah - mist clears......

the first image aren't painted orange, they are an ebay advert picture with no colour control - relative to the subsequent image you posted - and you aren't looking to strip the paint first!

coke won't effect the white painted infills over a matter of hours and it will bring a 'copper colour' back to the metal.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Have you thought about ultrasonic cleaning? There are guys that go round golf clubs with mobile cleaning machines, they claim to get clubs looking like New. Have a search on Google to see if there is anyone near you.

 

[talksalot81]

Ultrasonic cleaning will remove loosely bound soiling (so that will include mud/clay/dirt etc) and will do better at getting into small spaces where a brush won't get (like pores or similar). With an alkaline cleaner (this is what you need for generic soiling), you can get a really good clean. The OP, however, it discussing oxidation - the copper is chemically altered over time. It is not dirty, it is different. It is a bit like a scuffed golf ball - you can clean dirt off but not the scuffs. To return to the original look, you have to actually remove the outer oxidised layer - you have to actually dissolve a small amount of your golf club. This is what the coke (phosphoric acid) is doing. The coke is actually not doing much anything in the way of cleaning, any cleaning effect is down to you having dissolved the surface of the club and that carries away the dirt. You are actually acid etching, not cleaning. Acid etching will happen with metals and metal oxides, but not paint so the paint is not a concern.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Ultrasonic cleaning will remove loosely bound soiling (so that will include mud/clay/dirt etc) and will do better at getting into small spaces where a brush won't get (like pores or similar). With an alkaline cleaner (this is what you need for generic soiling), you can get a really good clean. The OP, however, it discussing oxidation - the copper is chemically altered over time. It is not dirty, it is different. It is a bit like a scuffed golf ball - you can clean dirt off but not the scuffs. To return to the original look, you have to actually remove the outer oxidised layer - you have to actually dissolve a small amount of your golf club. This is what the coke (phosphoric acid) is doing. The coke is actually not doing much anything in the way of cleaning, any cleaning effect is down to you having dissolved the surface of the club and that carries away the dirt. You are actually acid etching, not cleaning. Acid etching will happen with metals and metal oxides, but not paint so the paint is not a concern.

Apologies, the OP just says he wants to "clean them up" I didn't realise he wants to restore them to original condition.

 

[londonlewis]

Do it, works like magic - here are my before and after photos. Looks like a completely different club...

 

[la_lucha]

Do it, works like magic - here are my before and after photos. Looks like a completely different club...

View attachment 7574

View attachment 7575

Wow those results are truly amazing. It really does look like a totally different club. Does it work on Drivers too?