Cleaning Brass

[Dianne Mitchell]

Can anyone suggest a non-abrasive cleaner for laser-engraved brass that will remove tarnish but not damage the image.

Thanks

[greg lindsey]

If your into "green" methods, then ketchup works wonders on brass. Just sayin...

[Gary Hair]

If your into "green" methods, then ketchup works wonders on brass. Just sayin...

I'm not sure what kind of ketchup you have, mine is red - some would say "tomato' red...

[Paul Phillips]

Dianne, "Brasso" should work great for what you want, you should be able to find it just about anywhere cleaning products are sold, I know walmart has or any hardware store should have it.

[Michael Hunter]

Brasso is an abrasive polish.

People cleaning old brass clock mechanisms use an ammonia solution which leaves the parts bright without abrasion or damage.
Try googling "clock cleaning solutions".
Here is one that I found - "I use one with a mix of water, ammonia, Murphy's oil soap, Acetone." - unfortunately it does not give the quantities in the mix, but apart from the acetone it is cheap so you could afford to experiment.

[Rodne Gold]

A dilute solution of phosphoric acid will do , it's non abraisive. Phosphoric acid can be got from any food chemical supplier or chem supplier , dilute to about 20% to start with. (excellent jewellery cleaner too , works on silver and gold alloys - be careful of stuff with pearls etc - it will dissolve it - phosphoric acid is found in Coca Cola)
You can also use Chromic acid , diluted to 20% , however too strong a solution will give a matt effect , in fact we use it in a strong solution for cnc cut brass badge backs to give a wonderful gold coloured "passivated" effect on the badges. Any non abraisive cleaner will actually make the brass tarnish after a lot faster as it strips down to bare metal , polishes like brasso and silvo leave a protective layer on the brass , you can use a very light machine oil on a rag to apply a thin protective coating after a chemical clean.

[Dianne Mitchell]

Thanks everyone. I did try Brasso and it degraded the engraved image. I've also heard peanut butter works...who knew! I guess I'll just have to try different things. However, I would like to pass this information along to customers for the care of their brass items and I worry about the inconvenience of mixing chemicals etc. Thanks again.