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Thank you so much for hospitality...I am really new to this so I have one important question..should I keep my items as is.. Or clean them.. I have cleaned one already and let me tell you that thing cleaned up like new and Iam keeping it for myself!!l lol .. I do not want to de value what something once was and I don't really know what to do.. Any help would greatly appreciated

Personally I clean and polish everything I own, you can remove rust stains and bring back a piece really nice with a good polish and wax. Most will tell you NOT to touch it up or clear coat it or anything like that and I agree. Just a opinion

Pete said it best. Cleaning & polishing can go a long way, different products are better depending if you are talking about a porcelain sign, painted sign, oil can, etc.

In some cases, modification improves an item... such as a rusted up gas pump with no original paint, or a really rare sign that has been trashed. But in most cases, modifications should only be done to please your personal taste - because they most likely will not add any value and can sometimes hurt the value

I have to think, 99.98% of the time, there is never an issue with cleaning. But there can always be some crazy exception I suppose. I clean, wax, polish everything. Restoring on the other hand is very debatable in a lot of cases.

Cleaning is not a problem. In my opinion! And I agree with Steve, restoration of an item is a completely different animal. Cleaning is totally fine on any item.

I really don't want to appear stupid, but are you talking about an old pair of shoes or a Greek (Roman) gas pump worth $50,000 or more?

Jack Sim