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This katar has a nice old brown patina I am afraid if I clean it with sand paper it will get ruined.
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You are right, sandpaper would mess with the patina. The safest approach would be to use a brush (toothbrush okay, natural bristle better) dry to knock off loose, fresh corrosion and then wax or oil as you prefer. Next step up in agressiveness is using the brush with a solvent like alcohol or acetone, this would remove old coating residues (also painted decorations, if there were any). Anything abrasive will start taking away patina, so as Jens said, slow and careful is the way to go.