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I have a house full of the stuff. Even the door hinges are ornate brass. It's all practically black.
Now, please do not recommend:
ketchup, yogurt, salt and vinegar, vinegar, lemon juice, ammonia, or
Brasso, Bar Tenders' Friend, Tarn-X, or Wright's Copper Cream.
The household products just don't work. I know you read it on the Internet, but it's BS. The commercial products work by dissolving the top layer of metal, which I don't want to do. They all say to polish after use. Well, polishing without using the product seems to work just as well. Unfortunately, there are corners of the design I can't get at.
I bought an ultrasonic parts cleaner at Harbor Freight because I read an Internet discussion about how wonderful it is for this purpose. It does absolutely nothing, even on the highest setting.
It's said (on the Internet) that watchmakers have cleaning chemicals that lift the tarnish right off. Has anybody here actually used such a cleaner?
By the way, brass is more reactive than copper, so you shouldn't use a copper cleaner on it.
We bought a brass chandelier off of Craigslist and wanted to clean it up. I used Dawn and a scrubber (and a toothbrush for tight spots) and a lot of elbow grease. I didn't want to take ALL the black patina off but it did get enough to make it look good but still gave it that character.
I know you said you don't like vinegar but I have to tell you it does work. Soak overnight and in the morning it will clean up nicely. I've cleaned many, many brass items with it.
Some of that fancy hardware did originally have only the raised/surface details polished and the background left or finished dark to make the detail stand out.
If the whole "household cleaner" gambit isn't doing it for you (which sound more like a lack of patience), then I suggest a reverse electro-plating process. Even though the pieces aren't "plated" the process will still accomplish the same end result.
The most probable way would be to use reverse electro-plating using only a weak copper sulphate solution (using a weak solution will slow the process so that you're removing literally the junk and a 100/1000" of actual metal-depending on the actual alloy content). In a standard process, the target object to be plated is the cathode or negative side of the dc power-in this case the object to be stripped would be the Anode or positive side.
I haven't tried it, but I see no reason why it wouldn't work. All you need is some distilled water and a couple of teaspoons of copper sulphate. Power can be supplied by a few batteries in series, maybe 6 volts or so. The cathode to which the copper (from the brass) will be deposited should be copper and connected to the negative. Attach the positive lead to the part and immerse in the solution along with the cathode. "Un-plating" should occur; this is basically the same process used for circuit boards.
I know you said you don't like vinegar but I have to tell you it does work. Soak overnight and in the morning it will clean up nicely. I've cleaned many, many brass items with it.
Some of that fancy hardware did originally have only the raised/surface details polished and the background left or finished dark to make the detail stand out.
The above is true. Also keep in mind that your hardware might not be solid brass, but just brass-plated.
I remember, as a kid, watching an episode of Antiques Roadshow, where someone brought in their clean, bright and shiny antique brass vase. The appraiser told them it was a Tiffany vase, and would have been very valuable, if they didn't clean off all of the original antiqued finish.
Buff wheel. Basically if you have a standing grinder get a polishing wheel and buff wheel for it. Then you simply buy the stick that looks like a sidewalk chalk, run it on the polish pad a bit then give a few passes to the metal. Follow up with the buff pad to clean it and make it shiny again. When done give a quick wipe with a rag and your done.
I used to clean/maintain boats and brass, stainless, etc. all got polished this way when it was past a simple liquid application.
Alternatives include Brasso which comes in liquid or a can of pre-wetted fibers. It's messy and takes a lot of elbow grease but does work. Honestly head to a Chandlery if you have the opportunity, not West Marine or Boater's World. These are typically located at marina's and have a wealth of knowledge and products you will have never heard of but do wonders. Marine grade polishes do their job well.
Rather than trying to get every single crevice bright as if the parts were freshly made, why don't you accept that the stuff is old, and it ought to look old, and do a light polish with Brasso so the high areas are bright and the low areas are dark? That's the way it was intended to age.
If you buff it with a power buffer, it will smear and destroy all the intricate detail that makes the stuff interesting. Please don't do that.
As others have said, the value in your brass is the patina. If you do not care about patina & value, go with brass products for boats.
If you want to very lightly polish/remove some oxidation by hand, use old white washcloths with warm water & a dab of cheap white toothpaste. Rub on lightly then rinse & dry. It might take an old toothbrush to get the residue, but do not scrub hard. This is how I lightly spiff my old silver to retain its patina instead of using silver polish.
[quote=CatwomanofV;47663736]We bought a brass chandelier off of Craigslist and wanted to clean it up. I used Dawn and a scrubber (and a toothbrush for tight spots) and a lot of elbow grease. I didn't want to take ALL the black patina off but it did get enough to make it look good but still gave it that character. ...
Cat,
That really enhanced the chandler. Well done.
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