The wappen looks really great as it is. But of course it is not mine, and everyone has their own preferences.
When I've occasionally decided to clean an officer wappen, I've never used any polishing agent on them.
I have only used Parson's brand of Sudsy Ammonia, which has the ammonia mixed with a soap detergent. It will remove the blackish color silver patina without removing any of the neusilber plating on the wappen, or any frosting on it if there was any. I have also used real lemon juice on a 10th Pioneer helmet as well, which Bruno recommended to me to use, and it worked well also. (not as quickly as the sudsy ammonia would have, but it still did a nice job.)
I should have taken a "before" photo of this Prussian Reservist Guard helmet wappen to show how grungy it was with filth and some patina on it, before I cleaned it with Parson's Sudsy Ammonia many years ago. The silver "frosting" on it that "popped out" after cleaning with the sudsy ammonia is just absolutely spectacular. I did not clean the guard star on this helmet, I left the original darker patina on it. The rest of the fittings on this silver guard officer helmet were also cleaned with the sudsy ammonia. The Bavarian Reservist Chevauleger or Schwere Reiter helmet on the left in the first photo has been left uncleaned as I acquired it.
Best Wishes,
Alan
I suppose it would actually look more appropriate if I were to clean the guard star as well, so that it would match the color of the rest of the silver fittings on the helmet.
