The only cleaning I do is when I get a chip off the tables I will do a light cleaning when I get back to my hotel room. I put some ordinary soap, the stuff with the hotels name on it, on my hands and rub the chip for a minute or so in my fingers. That takes some of the surface dirt off. I then rinse and dry the chip and that is it. If the dirt is stubborn or in the engravings etc., I don't bother. I would never use any solvents or abrasives like a tooth brush. Some chips appear if the designs are paper. I wouldn't want to chance it. Also as mentioned elsewhere on this topic I wouldn't do it with hot stamped chips. Although, I don't have any.

As for Tokens, I never open a SS unless moving it to another capsule. I find that the original capsules have a small hole in the edge that will let air in and cause them to discolor. As soon as I get home I put my Silver Strikes in AirTites. $1 Slot tokens, I will wash. I look at the chip and judge whether it will enhance the chip to leave it dirty or wash it. I got a Mandalay Bay that was Brand New when there about a month after they opened. I did nothing with it. I have a TI that frankly I would take a hammer to before I clean it. The design of the token is enhanced by wear as it looks more like pirate loot. Some other Tokens I might take a tiny dab of polish, and wipe it then clean in warm water. If you are careful with how much you use the polish will clean the surface of the token without getting in the detail. This creates some contrast and lets the designs and printing stand out. The polish I use is MAAS. It is the same as Simichrome and maybe Flitz(?). I never have used Flitz so I am not sure. I would like to stress here. I only use the polish on metal tokens and never on chips. I then put them in capsules and never touch them again. Casinos do not seem to rotate their tokens out as often as they do their rack of chips. I just find that sometimes the tokens will get exceptionally grungy. If they are not too bad than a simple wash in dish soap and water is all or maybe no cleaning at all.

Some would probably argue with me on the polish. However, as I see it they were Circulated anyways and probably not in the catagory of pristine. I believe an innitial cleaning of a Current chip or token won't hurt it's value unless the chip is of a type that can easilly be damaged like the ones with paper designs or hot stamp. If they are in Uncirculated or really good condition or Old and Antique, I would concede that you should not alter them at all. It is just the average ones that I will give an innitial cleaning then I put them in AirTites.