Radium Hand Cleaning

[digitaltripper]

Hello all,
I am currently servicing a Wittnauer A-11 8 day aircraft clock. The hands appear to have mildew on them?? Is this possible with radioactive hands, and if so, could I use a diluted bleach solution on say a qtip to remove the mildew??

I have included these pics:[attachment=0:2oszfs8v]20180320_181613.jpg[/attachment:2oszfs8v]

[randy]

I would say that the mildew on radium hands is possible.
That said, I would not introduce any chemical to clean these. It’s impossible to know what the reaction could be.

On the few radium hands that I’ve worked on, I only wiped them clean with rodico, and wore gloves and a mask.

These radioactive elements have half-lives of may years ( 100s-1000s).

I just don’t think that without a lab setup, that we are safe to really take on the restoration of them

Best regards,

Randy

[fresh767]

Hi everybody – newbie here and trying to learn what I can about my new hobby

This article will_ probably_answer any questions on luminous dials. I found it a while ago. The article is quite long and very well written. One section, for example, is titled “Reactivating Radium Paint”
http://www.vintagewatchstraps.com/luminous.php

Here’s another I just found:
http://elginwatches.org/help/luminous_dials.html

Interesting additional info:
http://www.vogelein.com/JanerBlog/2009/01/09/steampunk_crafter_public_servi/

On a slightly different note, the following is unbelievable that some people can be so callous:
http://www.messynessychic.com/2015/07/02/the-radium-girls-and-the-generation-that-brushed-its-teeth-with-radioactive-toothepaste/

THAT’S IT … I’m done

FredF

[digitaltripper]

Hi Fred

Welcome to the forms and thank you for your input !! This clock is back to it’s owner. I decided to leave the hands as they were. Thanks again and welcome.

[Author]

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