I have some SPS/SdS chips (UFC right now). A friend found a bag of them at an antique mall. I picked out the 5 best (traded one to Gene for ID), and the 3 worst (well below "real dog that doesn't belong in any collection" grade).

Using one of the bad ones....one side of the chip was faded, the edge had black marks on it, and it's warped...I decided to experiment.

Somewhere I read that putting a warped chip in the microwave will flatten it, so I nuked it for about 5 seconds. Nothing happened, and I wasn't sure it wouldn't the microwave! I put a cup of water in the microwave, and tried it again for about 20 seconds. Still nothing. So, what the heck, I dropped it in the cup of water and gave it about 20 seconds...nothing. Back in the cup of water and brought it to a boil for about 10 seconds!! Nope, still warped!!

It looked a little cleaner-but still had black on the edge, so I hauled out the "Formula 409" and gave it a good squirt. Scrubbed it good, just using a paper towel. The paper towel turned kinda orange, some of the black came off the edge, the hot stamp stayed strong and actually shows some signs of being gold (as opposed to black/green), and the color of the chip lightened up-but had that "faded" look.

To deal with the faded look, I gave the chip a mineral oil bath! Rubbed it in for a few seconds, then used the same damp-orange-tinged-409-soaked paper towel to wipe it off.

RESULT: A clean chip with bright color, that still has some black on the edge, and is still warped!

DISCLAIMER: Results may not be typical. Do not try this at home. Do not try this on anything that is identifiable as a casino chip. The author of this post, and sponsors of the Chip Board may not be held responsible for any damages that you or your chips suffer if you ignore the warnings and try it anyway. (However, we will take credit if you are able to convert a "dog" to a chip using the information provided! )