Finds from an old house

[DeutscheSoldaten]

Hi all!

I want to share with you my latest finds from an old house this week. They did not need an oxalic clean so I cleaned them with just soap and water but I heard about a method using washing powder and hot water to clean most of the rust from the surface. Do you think that would be better or has anyone tried it yet?

1. A nice tan MG ammo box in good condition.
Before cleaning:




After cleaning:




2. A StuG 75 mm ammo box with most of its paint. It was used for holding tools in it after the war.
Before cleaning:




After cleaning:






3. A Hungarian helmet as a sh*t grabber. In my opinion it is a 47M because of its color from a small cleaned part inside. This won't be cleaned because there were a lot of helmets in the same service and had been cleaned and restored after they were found so in this condition they are running out.






And finally here is a grouping of them before and after cleaning.

[Mauser202]

The ammo box is very nice and I absolutely love the Stug box!
Were these found in the states or Europe?

[DeutscheSoldaten]

Thanks!
They were found in Hungary.

[Rescue190]

Nice finds. I think they cleaned up well. You could do an oxalic bath but they look pretty good now. I have not tried washing powder before, do you meaning clothes washing or dish washing powder?
John

[DeutscheSoldaten]

Thank you!
I meant washing powder for clothes mixed in hot water.

[Ethan]

Do you think that would be better or has anyone tried it yet?

I once bought a german helmet with traces of camo on it, but if I put my finger on the parts that were rusted then it would come away orange-brown, from rust, I wiped it down, rinsed it, then baked it to get the moisture out of it and now if I touch it, it doesn't look like I just ate dorrito chips!

Don't know if this is what I should have done... it was in the first couple months of my collecting that I got the helmet...

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Great finds, by the way!

[MAP]

Great finds.

[HoundsTooth]

The StuG ammo box is very nice. I love how these items get reused after the war - interesting to see that.
Nick

[DeutscheSoldaten]

Thank you!

[BlackCat1982]

Nice finds, I wouldn't bother with Oxalic with them, as it is nasty stuff. What you have done is fine with the boxes, you might want to try a commercial rust treatment on the helmet.