Tiki Mug Conservation

By "conservation" I mean care, cleaning and maintenance. Here's the situation: I got lucky and found six Trader Vic's coconut mugs at a local thrift store for $.53 each. (Of course, I bought 'em all.) Well they were all priced with some kind of unholy grease pencil right on the brown paint/glaze and I tried just about everything I had to remove the marks without also removing the color. Plain 'ol dish soap didn't get it. Ammonia didn't get it. Pine cleaner didn't get it. I was about to give up when I decided to try Gunk carburetor cleaner. Extreme, yes, but I knew it would remove the grease. Turns out it worked great and didn't harm the paint/glaze.

I'd be interested to hear what else works to clean yet conserve/preserve mugs that have been otherwise neglected and/or abused.

Try Goo Gone!

I use it to clean up all sorts of messes.

'Cuz I'm a dirty girl!

Simple Green also works great.

Some white vinegar mixed with liquid dish soap (original Dawn formula that they use to clean oil off ducks) is good for removing the cloak of yellowing nicotine stains. That with a sprinkle of baking soda is good for cleaning the inside of mugs used as vases, or that are full of indeterminate grime. Use baking soda on the inside only, as it is a gentle abrasive. Always put a soft buffer, like a fluffy towel folded over several times, between the mug and the sink, so if you drop the mug while washing it, it reduces the chances of chipping or breakage.

Never let a non-tiki person wash or dry mugs, because the only thing worse than a broken tiki mug, is if someone else breaks it... you always wonder if they dropped it on purpose, and you have to act like an adult and politely dismiss the ordeal, instead of letting loose a barrage of profanity that scares birds out of the trees for miles around.

On a side note, the rule in the house is, if my hands aren't on the mug, then it better not be in the sink. My girl loves me. :D

I don't know...personally I find those thrift store prices written in grease pencil or magic marker to be a badge of honor. It adds a little bit more to the history of a rare or unusual mug that would warrant high Ebay prices and serves as a reminder of conquest and being in the right thrift at the right time. I make it a point to keep the scribble on all my thrift store finds.

the goo off is the best product ever. I had a sticker on the CD once (new) and destroyed the CD altogether and still the sticker glue stayed. Couple days later used goo off and it melted the glue away. Plus it smell a whole hell of a lot better than CArb. cleaner. Smells like orange fields.

Believe it or not, WD-40 works wonders on getting sticky and greasy things off. I tried Isoproply ahcohol on the remains of a price tag, and it hardly got anything off. Squirted some WD-40 on it, wiped in less than 20 seconds and it got it ALL off.