I'd like to comment on a little different "cleaning" subject.

Many times we all get chips that have a large "scratch" across the inlay of the chip. I saw a listing on eBay last night that had some chips listed with this "scratch" noted in the description.

This is NOT a scratch and it can be EASILY removed! In the cage when they fill a rack with chips, they will take one chip and run it down the edge of the rack along the chips to make sure that each row is full. In many cases this is what causes that "scratch". The material you see on the inlay actually came from the chip that was run down the side of the rack. The textured "linen" surface of the inlay acts like sandpaper and holds some of the other chip.

In most cases you can remove this without damaging the chip by using the eraser on the end of a pencil. On some occasions I have had to use a magnifying glass and a needle to coax the clay material out of the grooves, but it always comes out.

Greg