Cleaning a folding ruler

[Mark Berenbrok]

I picked up a Lufkin folding brass and boxwood (?) ruler today at the flea market. The brass is pretty tarnished and the wood is dirty. I was going to use some 0000 steel wool to clean it. Is this the accepted method?

[Roger Bell]

You might consider trying soap (such as Murphy's Oil Soap or a mild citrus cleaner) and water on a sponge and see what that does before going to steel wool.

[Brett Baldwin]

If your intention with the steel wool is to shine the brass then you might try Brasso before going to the wool. It does a nice job of getting rid of the tarnish though it does little to stop it from coming back. The wool is a relatively aggressive approach that may not be necessary.

[Chuck Stanford]

Mark, I would use a high-solvent wax like Briwax applied sparingly. You'll be shocked at the amount of dirt you remove, but it shouldn't leave a 'stripped' appearance.

Test it on a small part of the ruler first.

[Alain Tellier]

A neat little trick to bring back tarnished Brass is to use some ketchup ( or catsup )... you read right, ketchup. Trust me, I use it on my brass fixtures, door nob, ajustment screws, etc. I use it when I restore old handplanes.

If you can remove the brass from the ruler it's even better, just put them in the a small container and cover them with ketchup let it sit overnight if it is really tarnished. Rinse and dry with a towel making sure to clean all the little cracks. Buff it up and voilà!

The acid in the tomaotes actually does the job of lifting grime and dirt and brings it back to a shine.