Thanks for the informative video. 1 - My recommendation would be to always apply what cleaner you are using to your cloth, NOT directly on the gong. This will help avoid light spots where the cleaner sits, like in the Paiste Cymbal cleaner example. 2 - Also, Paiste & Meinl Cymbal cleaners are designed to clean bronze cymbals, not nickel-silver. That’s why they work well on bronze gongs from China, etc. 3 - I also recommend wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands from the cleaners, and to keep from finger printing your clean gong. 4 - For extremely soiled and tarnished gongs of all types, especially with bad water staining, NOXON 7 works very well, but it can remove printed logos. 5 - Paiste, Meinl, and similar gongs all have a wax coating. If you regularly use a mild dish soap, like Blue dawn, and water to keep them clean, you may not need to use a stronger cleaner. Stronger cleaners may remove the coating and you will need to reapply some sort of protective wax 6 - If you are just cleaning a small dirty spot, be aware that that spot may become brighter/a different color than the rest of the gong after cleaning. 7 - When in doubt, test out a cleaner on the back of your gong first.
Yes, we agree with all these. We usually do put cleaners on the cloth first, but we wanted to make sure people could see what happens with the drops and marks! And to make sure people did see the difference in cleaners for bronze versus nickel silver.
Thanks much for the detailed experiment! I was very fortunate to recently score an older 38" Paiste Sound Creation Earth gong and while it sounds awesome it has some battle scars (scuffs, scratches, and spotting) so I'm looking around for possible ways to improve and preserve the surface.
curious to see what cheap ol BarKeepers Friend liquid might do. That stuff is very good on common brass with no logo removal, save for cheap brands perhaps.
Thanks for asking! Renaissance Wax is actually more of a protective measure, meant to be added AFTER you clean the gong / in-between subsequent cleanings. When your gong is clean and you add a layer of wax, it creates a protective boundary between the metal itself and the elements (dust, grease, grime, dirt, particulates, etc.)
I apply Paiste Cymbal Cleaner and immediately lightly agitate with a soft china bristle paint brush. I allow to sit and maybe even dry. I then remoisten and/or reapply more cleaner. I leave on and re-apply to where the cleaner is doing as much as it can WITHOUT SCRUBBING - just letting the cleaner do it's work using only it's chemistry. I thoroughly rinse off afterward and towel dry. this process does a lot clean the surface, but sometimes you'll have stubborn fingerprints or corrosion, which involves a whole nuther process that WILL involve scrubbing and then Buffing to remove the abrasions, which will result in a nearly perfect looking surface.
Tip: apply polish / solution to microfiber cloth first and then apply to gong. Polish with another clean microfiber cloth.
Thanks for the informative video.
1 - My recommendation would be to always apply what cleaner you are using to your cloth, NOT directly on the gong. This will help avoid light spots where the cleaner sits, like in the Paiste Cymbal cleaner example.
2 - Also, Paiste & Meinl Cymbal cleaners are designed to clean bronze cymbals, not nickel-silver. That’s why they work well on bronze gongs from China, etc.
3 - I also recommend wearing rubber gloves to protect your hands from the cleaners, and to keep from finger printing your clean gong.
4 - For extremely soiled and tarnished gongs of all types, especially with bad water staining, NOXON 7 works very well, but it can remove printed logos.
5 - Paiste, Meinl, and similar gongs all have a wax coating. If you regularly use a mild dish soap, like Blue dawn, and water to keep them clean, you may not need to use a stronger cleaner. Stronger cleaners may remove the coating and you will need to reapply some sort of protective wax
6 - If you are just cleaning a small dirty spot, be aware that that spot may become brighter/a different color than the rest of the gong after cleaning.
7 - When in doubt, test out a cleaner on the back of your gong first.
Yes, we agree with all these. We usually do put cleaners on the cloth first, but we wanted to make sure people could see what happens with the drops and marks! And to make sure people did see the difference in cleaners for bronze versus nickel silver.
Hi, thanks for your information.
If the gong has "green" spots marks from water exposed, do you still use Paiste Cymbal cleaner?
Such a neat and important video...thank you.
Professional gong cleaning, very interesting video Mick. :)
Bety valuable video. Thanks so much! For saving me Time, effort but most of all my Gongs will be safe of any discolouration and damage. .
Thanks much for the detailed experiment! I was very fortunate to recently score an older 38" Paiste Sound Creation Earth gong and while it sounds awesome it has some battle scars (scuffs, scratches, and spotting) so I'm looking around for possible ways to improve and preserve the surface.
curious to see what cheap ol BarKeepers Friend liquid might do. That stuff is very good on common brass with no logo removal, save for cheap brands perhaps.
How about for a Bronze gong ?
We got you!
Here is a guide on cleaning bronze Chinese gongs: ruclips.net/video/fqB6tURviHo/видео.html
I was wondering where the Renaissance wax ended up in the ranks?
Thanks for asking! Renaissance Wax is actually more of a protective measure, meant to be added AFTER you clean the gong / in-between subsequent cleanings. When your gong is clean and you add a layer of wax, it creates a protective boundary between the metal itself and the elements (dust, grease, grime, dirt, particulates, etc.)
How do I get finger prints off?
Hi!
If the gong is a bit rusty is it ok to use those cleaners?
thanks
I apply Paiste Cymbal Cleaner and immediately lightly agitate with a soft china bristle paint brush. I allow to sit and maybe even dry. I then remoisten and/or reapply more cleaner. I leave on and re-apply to where the cleaner is doing as much as it can WITHOUT SCRUBBING - just letting the cleaner do it's work using only it's chemistry. I thoroughly rinse off afterward and towel dry.
this process does a lot clean the surface, but sometimes you'll have stubborn fingerprints or corrosion, which involves a whole nuther process that WILL involve scrubbing and then Buffing to remove the abrasions, which will result in a nearly perfect looking surface.
Very useful thanks a lot