What do you think are the chances that the purists would pick the dirty Boardwalk Regency over the cleaned one in your example above?

Also, I admit that toothpaste is an abrasive. However, do you intend on cleaning the chip 50 or 60 times? Most people only clean a chip once. The amount of clay (clay/mixture) removed is imperceptible to the eye. I should point out, however, that one collector actually uses a jewelers loop.

Case in point is your AC chip. Did you round over edges (btw, no one touches the edge when they clean anyway). Is your mold still sharp? I think that answers the losing detail argument.

I collect c&s. It is a plain mold. I never touch the edge. Whatever sharpness the edge had, it would still have after a cleaning. However purist still diagree with what5 I do. I should point out that c&s collectors I know all clean their chips.

Belive me, future collectors will not complain. On the contrary, they will in all likliehood pay extra.

The only chips that shouldn't be cleaned are old molded chips that already have rounded edges and lost detail in the mold. Cleaning them is like, as I've head in the recent elections, like putting lipstick on a pig. It just doesn't improve its' looks.