Most of the antique or vintage socket sets i have, I keep as is. The only time I have cleaned any is when there extremely covered in rust or extremely caked in dirt.
When theres lots of dirt on them I spray a very small amount of wd40 on a rag and wipe the socket down. Usually that gets rid of most of it. I would never wire wheel a socket with light dirt.
When theres rust covering the whole socket I use a chemical bath. Each person has there own preference of what chemicals work best. Once again I would never wire wheel a socket.
For the ratchets I would give it a cleaning, but still keeping the patina on outside. I would open it up, scrape the old grease out and re lube it. Everyone has a difference in what grease product to use. After re lubing it chances are it will work fine. I have used a small file to scrap rust out of a gear, but just lightly.
I would not paint a socket set, or totally remove every bit of finish down to bare metal. Each collector is a little different.
