Tip for cleaning Brass?

[Carroll Courtney]

I have acouple of scales that are brass and over the yrs have tarness.What is a simple way to bring the numbers back to life or in site?Thanks Carroll

[Carl Fox]

Brasso.

http://www.detwiler.us/brasso.jpg

[Jason Roehl]

Don't forget elbow grease with the Brasso.

[Rick Gooden]

Never Dull. Years ago I was in a "spit and polish" military band (USCG), and this is all we would use on our brass. The can contains cotton wadding saturated with something to clean the tarnish and give a brilliant shine. What makes it superior is that it is not abrasive. I just recently rediscovered this product in the automotive section of Walmart.

[Lee Schierer]

Once you get them all shined up, spray them with a clear acrylic spray to keep them from tarnishing.

[Peter Quinn]

I've tried a lot of stuff, and for really dirty copper and brass the Kuhn Rikon metal polish is hands down the best stuff I've used. Its intended for cookware which oxidizes quickly due to the heat, it cuts through the film quickly, is non-toxic and non-abrasive. Never dull is a great material for light tarnish or a final polish, but I'd start with the Kuhn Rikon. Its usually available at good cook ware stores. Never used anything nearly as good that didn't require gloves and serious ventilation.

http://www.kuhnrikon.com/products/tools/group.php3?id=22

[Jude Tuliszewski]

Duraglit, used it when I was active USMC. Worked good without to much elbow grease.

[Dell Littlefield]

As a former antique clock restorer, I used a lot of different products to polish brass. My complaint with Brasso is that since it is a liquid, it gets into joints and cracks and causes corrosion. For example, if two parts are put together with screws, Brasso would tend to get in the joint and it would quickly freeze iup due to corrosion. I used several different gel type polishes and the one I found best for my purposes was SIMICHROME. It is a paste in a tube and is since it seems to have more abrasiveness, it is very effective in removing heavy tarnish and seemed to have some anti-tarnish properties. A little goes a long way. We try to keep some in house all the time. Try Googling it.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Want something cheap to clean brass? I collect antique oil lamps and there's a lot of brass that's not just tarnished, but has soot caked on it, etc. I used Brasso on some things and found that it took a lot of elbow grease and left residue caked in hard to get spots. I tried various things and then one day poured some general purpose ammonia household cleaner in a cup and put an oil lamp burner in it. I let it sit for about five minutes and then took it out and light scrubbing with a stiff toothbrush had it looking like new in a couple minutes. (Wearing gloves is a must). The household ammonia cleaner I'm talking about can be found in any grocery store (a lot have their own store brand), is about 5% ammonia (I think) and the best part is that it costs about a buck for a half gallon. Use it full strength and I'd advise doing it outside...and upwind. The ammonia is the 'detarnishing' agent - you can smell it in Brasso - and it has soap in it to help the cleaning. It works easy if you can immerse a brass object in it and a bit trickier to use if the object to be cleaned is part of something else as it's thin liquid....but that's the case more or less for all of them, I imagine.

After cleaning and rinsing the brass piece well and drying it I would do as has been suggested by spraying it. I use Krylon acrylic finish in what is called "Krystal Klear". Dries in just a few minutes to a clear gloss finish.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
Being a fat lazy old curmudgeon, I simply toss small brass and copper and other tarnished/stained or otherwise disfigured metal parts in here.
Corn cob media is pretty mild on the softer metals like brass.
An hour or two and they come out nice and shiny,

[John D Watson]

The simplest tarnish remover is salt and vineger at a one to one mix and a tooth brush. Only problem is it leaves the brass in its natural state. Dull!
Then you need a polish.

[Don C Peterson]

No Marine would dare prepare for inspection without a good supply of Never Dull. The stuff works.

[Brian Kent]

Once you get them all shined up, spray them with a clear acrylic spray to keep them from tarnishing.

Are there any techniques to slow the tarnish without adding a layer over the top?

[Don C Peterson]

Keep it clean and don't touch it... Brass and bronze will tarnish unless it is annodized or covered in some way to prevent oxygen from getting to it. I don't know if anodization is a do-it-yourself kind of project (I doubt it) but there might be some metal treatment businesses that could do it for you...?

If I remember correctly Nevr Dull has some tarnish inhibitors in it, but you still have to polish once in a while too keep the shine.