I remember a discussion on this forum about using mineral spirits to clean or moisturize mother of pearl or ivory. What is the deal?

Another tread I vaguely remember was cleaning the old dried oil, etc. off off a gun using a brown paper bage and WD40. Is this anothe folk talke?

Thanks

__________________
Randy
Provenance nerd

I would not use any spirits on Mother of Pearl or ivory. Mineral oil, yes to help “moisturize” them. Not sure what I would use to clean them.

Kevin

__________________
Unshared knowledge is wasted.

I do a two day soak in mineral oil on all my bone-stag-ivory grips once a year. Hoping it helps prevent shrinkage,warping in a dry environment.

Years ago someone I trust on the forum said he did it so I took his word on it.

Been doing this for years now with no issue. Mother of pearl might be risky other than a wipe down.

All I ever use is Ren Wax on all my Ivory and Stag for years and they still look great. Ren Wax does it all..........................................M*

...where cleaning can be done using 'Groomsticks' which are a type of rubber that is not abrasive like many erasers It seems that museum conservators use them.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

WD-40's main ingredient is a hydrocarbon solvent (C9-C12 alkanes) like mineral spirits. Plus some light lube oil. Nothing at all magic about it.

For MOP and stag I will usually gently clean with some Dawn and warm water, and dry immediately. Allow to air dry for a while and then follow with an application of RenWax. If the stocks appear dry, I wipe on a few coats of mineral oil before waxing.

Here is what the pros say about preserving ivory….

The Care and Feeding of your Ivory Grips - Colt Single Action Army Revolver Specialists

I don’t know if pearl responds the same way.

On Ivory ... Not Mineral Spirits ... Use Mineral Oil to soak and moisturize ... I wouldn't soak them in mineral Spirits ... maybe a quick wipe off to clean ... but no long soak .

I use Johnsons Baby Oil (or USP food grade pure Mineral Oil)
if it's safe to put on your baby's butt ... it's safe to use on your Ivory Grips ...
I have had Ivory Grips on my Single Actions since the late 1960's and always rubbed them down "liberally" with Mineral Oil . No pearl ...Only a New Orleans Pimp has pearl grips on his guns !
Gary

__________________
Certified Cajun
NRA Member

...is more delicate than Ivory. Ivory was and still is the preferred material for piano keys, so it has to be kind of tough. It seems any chemicals are bad for Mother of Pearl so even the soap has to be basic organic soap. (I might swish a little Ivory bar soap into the water) but you dampen a silk (!) or cotton cloth and rub gently. No ultrasonic cleaner, detergent, baking soda, alcohol or ammonia. No lemon juice, or anything acidic. I think that probably includes vinegar.

Being a gun material, I don't think gun oil will hurt Mother of Pearl, but I don't think I'd soak it in it.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Mineral Spirits is OK for Ivory,
You will see it listed as 'White Spirits' in some museum conservation process methods, especially of British origin.

But use it as a surface cleaner by dampening a cloth pad or use a cotton swab dampened with it. Then clean the surface off afterwards with a mild soap & water useing the same method & dry it.
It's great for getting tape and sticker glue and gum off of ivory surfaces. Some marker and other writing ink can also be removed with it. But as the ivory is porous, sometimes the marker matr'l has been absorbed deeper down into the ivory surface and will still leave a ghost image.

Never dunk/soak ivory in anything including water.

Lots of people rub a coating of Mineral Oil on ivory objects. They feel it 'feeds' the surface. Ivory is porous like wood is and absorbs water and other things in the same manner.
Mineral oil/Baby Oil,,it's all the same stuff. Just highly refined petro oil to the edible stage .
A very very light coating rubbed on, then excess removed with a soft cloth won't do any harm.

I'd avoid any drying oils like wood finish type and even Linseed Oils which are gummy and sometimes never really dry but can be absorbed by the Ivory. Linseed has a habit of turning dark as it oxidizes, even near black over time.

Keep Ivory from extremes in temperature and humidity. High temp and low humidity will cause cracking. Sometimes within a few hours if really excessive like around a wood stove for example.
The cracks won't heal themselves by simply re-introducing the ivory piece to higher humidity and lower temps once again. The gaps may close up, but the separation in the ivory is still there. Then the dirt and grime from simple handling gets in there and is nearly impossible to get out.


Pearl(s) and Mother of Pearl are the same substance.
Very fragile, much more than Ivory.
What you can use to clean Ivory is pretty much off limits on Pearls and MOP if you want to keep them in top shape.
No acidic cleaners, no abrasives even mild ones, no Mineral Spirits, Acetone or the like.
A warm water and very mild soap damp wipe down, then the same room temp water damp rinse and dry is the recommendation for jewelry MOP pieces.
The high polish color layer on top can be damaged with things as simple as personal hygene products, sweat, etc.

But talking handgun grips, they are going to get handled much more heavily than jewelry, so the orig just made new look will not remain long unless they are white glove handled and safe queen stored.

Just keep them as clean as possible with the above processes and realize
they are fragile and can crack and chip easily as well as be surface damaged from normal gun handling procedures.
It's just the nature of the natural material they happen to be made of.

Either of the materials will resist cracking or other damage in use if they are closely fitted to the handgun frame and are securely held in position with no gaps to the frame.
Ivory grips are usually much better fit than the average MOP set of grips. The latter generally don't have the exacting , tight fit around the edges of the grip frame nor the excellent flat fit to the frame to keep them from 'rocking'. Keep the grip screw(s) tight, but don't over tighten them especially with the MOP grips.

There's always Mother of Plastic as an alternative...

A highly respected old timer once told me to think about Ivory, MOP and Stag as something that needs an occasional feeding. His line of thinking was that these are natural substances and therefore require a natural sort of feeding. He told that once a year one should take your Ivory, MOP and Stag pieces and if possible remove them from the firearm, put them in a nice warm spot for a couple of days. Then take a liberal amount of Lanolin and lovingly rub it into said stocks, knife scales, etc. Rub it in with the warmth of your hands and in many cases you can see an improvement almost immediately. He told me that he once got a set of Ivory stocks that were cracked badly at the butt, he gave them a couple of serious Lanolin treatments and the cracks all but disappeared. I know that from gemstone work I got involved with in another lifetime some semi precious stones like Opal are very susceptible to "drying" out and Lanolin was recommended for them too. An old gem guru that taught me to cut gemstones used to get an Opal in his hand and first thing he would do was rub it against his nose to get some "nose grease" to wake up the fire in the stone. Much like grandpa used to rub the male ferrule of his fishing rod on his nose for some "nose grease" before assembling the rod. Natural substances...
Being involved with black powder firearms one thing I learned from the get go was to stay away from anything associated with petroleum, mineral oil is OK but petroleum products and black powder do not mix well. The only lubricant that I use on moving parts of my black powder firearms is a seriously guarded quantity of Whale oil, I love the stuff...you can render bear oil down to be a close second but it ain't the same. To swab the barrel after cleaning or for storage I use Ballistol, its derived from mineral oil. Water soluble Mineral oil mixes with water and is the basis for our standard cleaning solution, along with Dawn liquid dish soap and water.

I don't know about Whale (sperm) oil, which is now essentially illegal except for a very few uses, but it was replaced by special synthetic oils used for lubricating watches and clocks. I use clock oil for revolver lube. It does not dry out or get gummy.

Mineral oil , not spirits.

__________________
Grumpy Old Man With a Gun

I have used and continue to use some of the great synthetic oils on modern firearms but in the same way that using synthetic products in old vehicles usually results in leaks because it is so superior it actually gets past the seals designed to work with petroleum products. I tried using modern synthetic brake fluid in new old stock brake cylinders and found that it not only caused leaks in the cylinders it also ruined the old school brake light switch. My sperm whale oil was produced by Brownells from way back and is all that I have, I only use a drop or two on the lock mechanisms and triggers of my black powder firearms.
The only synthetic product I use with black powder is a synthetic water soluble mineral oil, used primarily by high speed machining where there is a constant flow of lubricant on the item being machined, its neat stuff and easily blends with water. We are not totally behind the times with our black powder shooting, almost all of the top shooters use patching coated with Teflon. There is one guy in the US that supplies nearly everyone with his product, no one can figure out where the guy gets his cotton cloth, it has the tightest weave of any cotton fabric anyone has seen. I think it is high end sailing fabric where natural fibers are required. I've got a friend that uses his cloth without the Teflon because he's never found a tighter weave. The cloth ranges from .015 to .022 thickness, your barrel will tell you what it likes along with ball diameter. The beauty of Teflon is that there is no other lubricant required, temperature has no effect. One of my flintlock shooting buddies says "Its cheat'in".

Mother of Pearl: the history and restoration of iridescent decoration

Mother of pearl restoration.

This Model 3 Russian Second Model, Commercial Variation was acquired by the previous owner in 1965. He remains the most knowledgeable Smith & Wesson enthusiast out there. Upon my acquisition of this very nice revolver in late 2021, I asked him what he used to keep these set of ivory stocks looking so nice during his 56 years of stewardship. His response was that no agents were applied to these stocks during his long period of ownership. Neither, too, have I applied anything to these stocks. And yet, they remain this aesthetically attractive as they soon approach their sesquicentennial.

Attached Images

	IMG_0798.jpg (92.9 KB, 11 views)
	IMG_0799.jpg (94.0 KB, 9 views)
	IMG_0801.jpg (36.9 KB, 11 views)
	IMG_1074.jpg (82.4 KB, 5 views)