Best Blue Ribbon Alternative?

[Brucem]

I know its been gone quite awhile, and Coin Care is one way to go. Copper is a tough one to clean anyways. I was thinking maybe ultrasonic cleaner, just not sure If it would help copper.
I know its not good to clean any coin, but out of the ground they look terrible, and sometimes you can't even see a date.
I've heard fresh from the ground its best to just dry clean coin with fingernail or toothpick, and not introduce any water at all. I wonder if any cleaners for metal contacts would be any good? Probably too harsh.
I realize its sort of sacred ground, just looking for ideas.

 

[hoser]

I've heard fresh from the ground its best to just dry clean coin with fingernail or toothpick, and not introduce any water at all.

Sorry I have to disagree. A small spray bottle of water to wash off the mung to me is the way to go. You rub the dirt off a coin you risk the chance of scratching it further. But that's just me.

 

[Brucem]

I know there are quite a few different philosophies as far as cleaning goes. Its too bad we don't just have one good way of doing it and that would be done with, but with so many things going in the ground these days, you never know what the soil is like where the coin comes out of, and that can vary from one place to another in a relatively small area.
Plus it depends on what the coin or item is made out of. I'm mostly going to concentrate on copper and silver as I don't think Gold will likely be one of the things I need to think about.
I had heard that Blue Ribbon did wonders without harming the value of the item it was put on. Mostly made from trichloroethylene and silicone. Not sure what dirt cleaning properties TCE has though.