4 ms·

How to Clean Paper Currency (2018)

16 points by wglb 4y ago

benj111 4y ago
Insert obligatory money laundering joke here.
- bobowzki 4y ago
  Put them in the Londongrad Laundromat?
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    What happens when they exchange all their UK pounds and UK bonds to prop up the ruble? Oh wait…
    - benj111 4y ago
      UK £s is a different joke entirely. They've just withdrawn the last of the paper notes so we can't even burn them to keep us warm this winter.
HPsquared 4y ago
Cash is one of the few physical things where the value is unaffected by it being damaged, dirty, etc. Though I guess someone might refuse to accept something particularly dirty, and be convinced by reducing the agreed value, hmm...
bell-cot 4y ago
TL;DR version - methods you could try at home (soap, hot water, solvents, etc.) will mess up the anti-counterfeiting features of modern bills. If you have physically dirty money, then exchange it at a bank. The technique that actually works is a sort of "dry cleaning" - in high-pressure, liquid carbon dioxide.
dav_Oz 4y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20180321023312/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/magazine/how-to-clean-paper-currency.html https://web.archive.org/web/20180321023312/https://www.nytim... Pecunia non olet[0] [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet
leobg 4y ago
I used to iron my bills. Worked well for me to get crisp, fresh looking bills, both with USD and EUR.
- dtgriscom 4y ago
  ... starch?
  - leobg 4y ago
    Tried it. But the bills feel better without. Putting a damp towel below also helps.
unstatusthequo 4y ago
Or just go to a bank and ask for fresh banded bills?
- zinekeller 4y ago
  > Or just go to a bank and ask for fresh banded bills? It's obvious you haven't read the article fully. To be fair it's a clickbaity article (it tells how central banks try to both lengthen the lifespan of notes despite not cleaning it and how they clean them to lengthen them further), but it's in TFA: > Balke doesn’t think you should bother: If you end up with a particularly nasty (or mangled) bill, most banks will let you exchange it.
nayuki 4y ago
Plastic cash is much easier to clean. Many countries have switched already.

16 points by wglb 4y ago

benj111 4y ago

Insert obligatory money laundering joke here.

bobowzki 4y ago
Put them in the Londongrad Laundromat?
- Scoundreller 4y ago
  What happens when they exchange all their UK pounds and UK bonds to prop up the ruble? Oh wait…
  - benj111 4y ago
    UK £s is a different joke entirely. They've just withdrawn the last of the paper notes so we can't even burn them to keep us warm this winter.

HPsquared 4y ago

Cash is one of the few physical things where the value is unaffected by it being damaged, dirty, etc. Though I guess someone might refuse to accept something particularly dirty, and be convinced by reducing the agreed value, hmm...

bell-cot 4y ago

TL;DR version - methods you could try at home (soap, hot water, solvents, etc.) will mess up the anti-counterfeiting features of modern bills. If you have physically dirty money, then exchange it at a bank. The technique that actually works is a sort of "dry cleaning" - in high-pressure, liquid carbon dioxide.

dav_Oz 4y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20180321023312/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/20/magazine/how-to-clean-paper-currency.html https://web.archive.org/web/20180321023312/https://www.nytim... Pecunia non olet[0] [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecunia_non_olet

leobg 4y ago

I used to iron my bills. Worked well for me to get crisp, fresh looking bills, both with USD and EUR.

dtgriscom 4y ago
... starch?
- leobg 4y ago
  Tried it. But the bills feel better without. Putting a damp towel below also helps.

unstatusthequo 4y ago

Or just go to a bank and ask for fresh banded bills?

zinekeller 4y ago
> Or just go to a bank and ask for fresh banded bills? It's obvious you haven't read the article fully. To be fair it's a clickbaity article (it tells how central banks try to both lengthen the lifespan of notes despite not cleaning it and how they clean them to lengthen them further), but it's in TFA: > Balke doesn’t think you should bother: If you end up with a particularly nasty (or mangled) bill, most banks will let you exchange it.

nayuki 4y ago

Plastic cash is much easier to clean. Many countries have switched already.