Bronze cymbal cleaning

Letter 18885

Bronze cymbal cleaning

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I am trying to clean bronze cymbals made of 80% copper, 20% tin, and traces of silver. They are heavily tarnished green and black. I have used cleaner produced by the manufacturer without success. I would like to polish the surface to a brilliant shine. Abrasives may harm the finely lathed tonal groves and off-the-shelf brass cleaners will discolor the medal. Is there an acid that could do the trick?

Darin P
- Manhattan, KS, United States

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Darin-

In more than 30 years of cymbal cleaning I have used everything from ketchup to gasoline, but I recently discovered a spray product called Graffiti Remover that does an excellent job of cleaning traditional finish B-20 cymbals as well as Brilliant finish models. It sounds like you may have Traditional finish models that you wish to buff into Brilliant finish. If this is the case,please allow me to advise you of a few key points:

First, the tonal grooves will be smoothed over during the process of buffing. This will affect the overall sound of the cymbal.

Second, the heat generated by high-speed buffing will also affect the relative hardness(temper)of the metal,another sound-altering symptom that can wreak havoc if not performed correctly. If heat is allowed to build inconsistently in different areas of the disc, the resulting sound properties will be less than desirable.

Third, the process of buffing removes surface metal and all printed logos...this may be undesirable in the case of valuable vintage instruments, which lose resale value if altered in this manner.

All things considered, it's probably best to just clean them well with Graffiti Remover (RINSE,RINSE,RINSE) and look for other Brilliant finish models to use with them. I buff cymbals all the time.

Mike Skiba
- Brick, N.J., USA

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After the Graffiti remover do you rinse with water?

TEE Bone
- Morgan Hill, CA

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I have been a drummer for a couple years now and am wondering if just soaking my cymbals in that bath tub and scrubbing them with soap would work. Or would it be harmful to my cymbals.

Philip Jay Walter
student - Saskatoon, Sask, Canada

Ed. note: letter 21483 has some additional interesting opinions and suggestions for cleaning brass cymbals. Letter 18876 has some additional comments about cymbal tonality.

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I use bronze/cooper twinkle®, rinse well, dry totally with a soft cloth and then wax with car wax or teflon car wax. Shine last longer if waxed.

Juan Lopez
- Cali, Colombia

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