cleaning old dirty tubes?

[mike_mccue]

Hi,
Everytime I try to clean dirt and dust off a tube I regret that it seems to degrade or remove the paint labeling.

I have tried applying water in a variety of ways and sometimes some of the brands of tubes have labels that resist falling apart but then others of the same age have paint that just comes off immediately.

This morning I tried using a soft dry artists paint brush... by the time I was working it hard enough to remove the dirt the paint was also coming off.

I am starting to think I should leave the dirt on the tubes so that they can be easily identified until they are put back into service.

Does anyone have any tips or thoughts on this?

Thanks and best regards,
mike

[Jag]

I guess it depends on if you're palnning to sell the tubes or not, or just want them to look original.

I generally only intend to use older tubes just for myself, so I hand write the info on the other side of the tube with a sharpie. I don't care how they look as long as I know what they are.

If the tubes are in someone elses amp, I just leave the dirt or clean around the label if the owner wants the label in tact.

I once got a tip that you can sometimes breathe on a tube (like you would when cleaning glasses) that is missing the labelling and see a ghost of the label. This has worked occasionally sometimes.

[mike_mccue]

I'm not really in interested in selling tubes. I'm more interested in simply keeping them around for now and I like the idea of keeping original markings as intact as possible.

It also seems that even Sharpie markings are not that durable.

So I was just wondering if there were any good tips for cleaning.

Thanks.

best regards,
mike

[Diablo]

If I clean a tube, I expect to lose some of the markings. Some tubes are permanently etched with no problems from cleaning, while others use some kind of paint that just falls off the tube. Clean them one at a time so you can remark the tube with an ID.