Scrub pocket change with baking soda and vinegar.
Dip your coins in white distilled vinegar and let them soak for about 30 seconds. Take one coin out of the vinegar at a time and immediately sprinkle a pinch of baking soda on the surface. Rub the baking soda into the face of each coin with your fingers to scrub away the dirt and grime. Then, just rinse all your coins under clean water and pat them dry.
Clean copper coins in a vinegar and salt solution.
Dissolve 1 tsp (7 g) of table salt in a bowl with 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of white distilled vinegar. Drop your coins into the mixture and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Pull the coins out of the liquid and gently wipe them with a paper towel to break apart the tarnish and dark spots.
Brush off tough tarnish with lemon juice and salt.
Sprinkle table salt onto the surface of each coin and add a few drops of lemon juice to make a thick paste. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush to gently scrub each of the coin’s faces for 1–2 minutes. After that, just rinse all your coins with cool water and dry them off with a soft towel.
Dissolve tarnish with a hydrogen peroxide soak.
Fill a small bowl with enough hydrogen peroxide to submerge your coins. Put a few of your coins into the solution at a time and let them soak for up to 24 hours so the tarnish has a chance to loosen up. Rinse your coins under cold running water when you’re finished and pat them dry with a soft towel.
Let coins soak in cola to dissolve the tarnish.
Fill a small cup or bowl with any type of cola and submerge your coins. Let the coins sit for at least 5 minutes before taking them out and rinsing them off. Lightly rub the surface with a paper towel to help polish your coins and make them shine again.
Try scrubbing your coins with ketchup.
Squirt enough ketchup on each coin’s face to cover it. Work the ketchup into each coin with a soft-bristled toothbrush for about 1–2 minutes per side. When you finish scrubbing, hold your coins under running water to rinse them off.
Dip coins in a commercial cleaner solution for heavy tarnish.
Wear latex gloves and safety glasses when you use a cleaner solution since it’s very acidic. Hold 1 coin at a time between your fingers and submerge it in the cleaning solution for about 5 seconds. Take the coin out of the solution and immediately rinse the residue off with clean water.
