antique hooks (large pic attached)

[dixieredhead]

I recently was given a steel? crochet hook that is over 100 yrs old. While it is a lovely gift, I WANT TO USE IT! I'm thinking that it is steel and not silver, however it is blackened on the hook end and nothing I have tried will seem to clean it. Any thoughts on how to clean this stuff off? I wish I knew what kind it was. it is about 6 inches long and has a rounded end and an "s" type bend where your suppose to hold it, and a very nice pointed hook. I'm guessing about a size 10 or 11. Any help is greatly appreciated> Hard to tell from the crappy pic, I need a new camera:(

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/im_buford/P3050015.jpg

[donnalynn2]

Hmmm, the pic is rather blurry so it's hard to make out.

 

What a wonderful gift to get such an old hook! I remember seeing a thread recently about cleaning hooks.

 

Good luck getting it cleaned! I'm sure you will cherish it!

[Gran]

I'm guessing Wright's silver polish didn't do it. How about putting it in an aluminum pan (or a pan lined with aluminum foil) and warm, very salty water overnite?

 

Or, if you want to spend the money you could take it to a jeweler who has an ultrasonic jewelry cleaning device.

 

Maybe one of those will work. Good luck, it's beautiful.

[faithpa76]

Call me clueless (no idea on the best way to clean it) but WOW that's neat!

[donnalynn2]

I'm guessing Wright's silver polish didn't do it. How about putting it in an aluminum pan (or a pan lined with aluminum foil) and warm, very salty water overnite?

 

Or, if you want to spend the money you could take it to a jeweler who has an ultrasonic jewelry cleaning device.

 

Maybe one of those will work. Good luck, it's beautiful.

 

That's a great idea IMO. In fact, the place we purchased our wedding rings will clean anything we bring in there free of charge so you may not even have to pay to have it done. My jeweler uses one of those steam machines. Let us know how this turns out!

[Katchkan]

I am sure the hooklady can give you some sort of an idea on how to go about cleaning your hook. I love these old hooks though I rarely use them as I have my favorite boyes, But I love looking at them and have them displayed on my wall in my work corner, were they inspire me to make the type of beautiful things that their original owners did.

 

I would love to see a clearer picture.

[hooklady]

DixieRedHead your hook is probably steel, if it was silver it would have a hallmark on it. This was a popular style of hook in the middle to late 1800 until the early 1900's.

 

(Thanks for the vote of confidence Katchkan. )

 

I have tried everything to get rid of rust and restore steel hooks to their original beauty. This is the process I finally came up with that works. To get rid of the rust, I dip only the discolored area of the hook in CLR or Lime Away for a few minutes then take an old toothbrush and a little dish detergent and clean it good.

Next, using “0000†steel wool moistened with a few drops of WD40 or a good machine oil, I rub the area well (this could take a while). Then I coat the hook with a little Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream let it dry and buff with a clean dry cloth. If the hook is still discolored, I use a finger nail buffer or jeweler’s cloth or both and buff it. I repeat the use of the steel wool and the buffer until the area is smooth. Once all the rust is removed, I use the metal polish again and then wax it well. The best wax to use is Renaissance wax, the second best is bee’s wax, next best is rub it well with waxed paper.

 

Remember that rust indicates that the protective coating on the hook has been destroyed and it will need to be washed regularly, protected with a good metal polish and kept waxed to prevent it from rusting again.

I restored the bottom hook in this picture using this method, when I started it looked worse than the top hook . Here is a link to a bigger picture with more detail. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/Steel2.jpg

Hope this helps.

[dixieredhead]

Thank you so much for all the advice. Ill try to get a better pic of it. Thanks for the idea KAthy, I think framing it with a old doily my great aunt made would be perfect to hang where I crochet. Thank you Hooklady for all your inspiring tips. I will work on that and let you know how it goes.

[BrianC]

DixieRedHead your hook is probably steel, if it was silver it would have a hallmark on it. This was a popular style of hook in the middle to late 1800 until the early 1900's.

 

(Thanks for the vote of confidence Katchkan. )

 

I have tried everything to get rid of rust and restore steel hooks to their original beauty. This is the process I finally came up with that works. To get rid of the rust, I dip only the discolored area of the hook in CLR or Lime Away for a few minutes then take an old toothbrush and a little dish detergent and clean it good.

Next, using “0000†steel wool moistened with a few drops of WD40 or a good machine oil, I rub the area well (this could take a while). Then I coat the hook with a little Blue Magic Metal Polish Cream let it dry and buff with a clean dry cloth. If the hook is still discolored, I use a finger nail buffer or jeweler’s cloth or both and buff it. I repeat the use of the steel wool and the buffer until the area is smooth. Once all the rust is removed, I use the metal polish again and then wax it well. The best wax to use is Renaissance wax, the second best is bee’s wax, next best is rub it well with waxed paper.

 

Remember that rust indicates that the protective coating on the hook has been destroyed and it will need to be washed regularly, protected with a good metal polish and kept waxed to prevent it from rusting again.

I restored the bottom hook in this picture using this method, when I started it looked worse than the top hook . Here is a link to a bigger picture with more detail. http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/hooklady/Steel2.jpg

Hope this helps.

 

Your steps sound really good. along witht he 0000 steel wool you might also try working with 800 grit to 2500 grit sandpaper with the WD40. This will polish the metal back to absolute smoothness and when you wax it it should just glide through the yarn/thread

 

The high grit papers can be had most easily at an auto paint store or full service autoparts store.

 

Brian

[Gran]

Thanks for showing such lovely old hooks, and thanks for the very useful cleaning methods!

[Momcrochets]

I just adopted a lovely old (looks old) steel hook. Has a cute "turned" look on the end, but it's in pretty rough shape. It's very fine, but I don't see a number on it. I'm glad cat3crazy suggested I do a search for cleaning hooks, because that's how I found this thread. So now I can try to restore the hook. (I'll take before and after pics...if I don't forget )

[hooklady]

I just adopted a lovely old (looks old) steel hook. Has a cute "turned" look on the end, but it's in pretty rough shape. It's very fine, but I don't see a number on it. I'm glad cat3crazy suggested I do a search for cleaning hooks, because that's how I found this thread. So now I can try to restore the hook. (I'll take before and after pics...if I don't forget )

 

Please don't forget the pictures. I'd love to see how well it turns out.

[craftconnie1]

I've had good luck with lemon juice and a little salt