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Problem with clay chips molding?? (1 Viewer)

liftapint

liftapint

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Has anyone had a problem with mold growing on your clay chips? I don't know what kind of storage situation would cause this, but I took some TRK in trade and there is some mold on the chips.

A) does this do any permanent damage to the chips?
B) how does one go about removing this mold? A little tumble in a TSP bath in the ultrasonic cleaner?
C) if I manage to get them cleaned and oiled, and store them in a more appropriate place than did their previous owner, should I be able to expect them to be perfectly awesome going forward?

Thanks!!
 
Pics? I have had old chips in moldy cardboard and the chips smelled moldy. Probably got wet.
 
image.jpeg
 
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Mold can grow any where when conditions are right. Keep humidity under 65% and area dry.
 
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Did you or somebody before you oil the chips? I have never experienced it because I always use mineral oil, but I have been told that using other types of oil (e.g., a vegetable or fat based oil) to oil chips can lead to mold.

And ditto what Tommy said.
 
I purchased some E&C chips earlier this year from a seller in a wet climate. The lot included a denom where there is mold growing into the chip. I knew this going into the sale and wanted the other chips so all is good. The chip color is lavender and the fungus is off white and mostly on the rolling edge. I may try a @ChaosRock type C-clamp oiling method to lightly sand the edges with some 150 grit paper, then oil and see if it takes it away, but I'm not very confident it will fix it. Don't care either as the chips still look great. Imagine microscopic hyphae growing between the microscopic voids into the clay. It isn't going anywhere in that case. I do not believe these chips have ever been oiled. Maybe I'll try it, take photos and post it for the community. I'm sure there are many chips that have been sitting in dark moist basements for years that are exactly the same.
 
I'd try a Magic Eraser on the rolling edge before I resorted to using sandpaper. Might also try a fungicide product, or even a very mild bleach solution (tested on a sample chip first).

A Lysol steam bath might do the trick, too -- that's what they sometimes use for removing massive mold growth in automobile interiors.
 
Hmm based on the title, I was expecting something different in this thread...like the issues that were found with the duplicate cigar and snifter punches found on some of the Protégé chip molds. :)

I've never actually dealt with mold on chips before, but yeah I second the magic eraser first (after a bath in some mild detergent maybe). The magic eraser is...well...magic!
 
BGinGA said:
I'd try a Magic Eraser on the rolling edge before I resorted to using sandpaper. Might also try a fungicide product, or even a very mild bleach solution (tested on a sample chip first).

A Lysol steam bath might do the trick, too -- that's what they sometimes use for removing massive mold growth in automobile interiors.
Click to expand...


I've got a magic eraser and since the chips are here with me I'll do a little test with pics for the community. What the hell is a Lysol steam bath? Sounds dangerous without a respirator handy.
 
First, I wonder if that TRK chip that Mel had in the pic came from me. There were sitting at the house in AZ with no humidity for about 3 months before I opened the package. I never went through the chips one by one so can't confirm if it was already moldy. It probably was. If it wasn't, perhaps the mold started in Washington. I'm curious to know. Can mold grow on a face like that in a few months? What is the food source? The chips themselves? Dirty hands? OK on to the experiment.

Here is a photo of my 2+ racks of E&C hot stamp lavender chips. I went through them and for the most part I have 116 good chips and 90 moldy. 96.8% of the mold is exclusively on the rolling edge. Very few chips have it spreading onto the faces. Take a look

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1390.jpg.html][/URL]

This is a close up of what we are dealing with. They have now been sitting in very dry desert air in my climate controlled garage for 3 months.

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1391.jpg.html][/URL]

I took out a brand new name brand Mr. Clean Magic Eraser extra strength sponge and put a barrel in my hand and went at it for about 3-4 minutes. It was a complete waste of time, no results. It was a great suggestion and posed zero treat to the chips so it was a logical first step.

Next I placed a barrel on the draining groove on the kitchen counter. These grooves are also great for cleaning shrimp @detroitdad just so you know.

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1393.jpg.html][/URL]

I go out one of my sponge sanding blocks (very important to make sure you do not flat side the chips). I went around and maybe put 3-4 minutes of work into it, not pushing too much and not sanding the outer chips resulting in a screwed up edge. Then I moved the outer chips in to complete the sanding. Here is a look at them at this point.

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1394.jpg.html][/URL]

After the minimal sanding, I wiped them down and while still holding the barrel in one hand, I dipped my fingertip into a bit of mineral oil and massaged it into the 20 chip edges. I wiped them down and racked them up. Here are the results.

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1395.jpg.html][/URL]

Here is a close up. The barrel on the left is untouched, middle is the experimental group oiled, right are cherry picked without oil.

[URL=http://s174.photobucket.com/user/slisk/media/IMG_1396.jpg.html][/URL]

You can see a bit of the fungus but even with this minimal effort the result is surprisingly good. When I'm motivated to do so, I'll sand these again until I believe they are 100% clean and then do the same with every chip I have. I would challenge anybody to feel or otherwise pick them out. My digital caliper needs a battery but I'll give a comparison total average diameter if there are any rivet counters out there.

I'm happy to learn that this technique works on lavender ASM E&C chips. I don't think sanding mint chip faces would be an option but for the fungus problem these racks had, this is a no brainer solution.
 
Did you use a damp Magic Eraser or just try it dry? They don't work worth crap without getting them wet.
 
BGinGA said:
Did you use a damp Magic Eraser or just try it dry? They don't work worth crap without getting them wet.
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Damp Dave, clay was coming off but no noticeable improvement in the chips. The eraser just didn't take enough off. I presume it would work with tons of elbow grease.
 

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