Removing tarnish on brass, copper, bronze

A. Hi Carole,

To remove tarnish from brass/copper/bronze, you may need a formulation consisting of reductive acids, complexing agents, wetting agents and corrosion inhibitors.

A. Hi, Carole. Ling is invariably right, and is probably right this time. But I'm guessing that you're a consumer looking for a commercially available spray or polish to remove tarnish from your household items, rather than for a formula according to which you would blend together the acids and agents that he mentions.

There are many copper/brass polishes. The very slowest acting ones like Brasso [on eBay or Amazon] leave the item the warmest and richest. The very fastest working, like vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon] plus salt (or lemon juice plus salt, or ketchup or hot sauce), leave the item orange and raw looking, and can damage really fine detail. There are probably many ranges in between.

The compromise that I personally use is Revere Copper & Stainless Cleaner .
It works quite fast & easy while still leaving what I consider a reasonably nice, warm, shine. There are probably several other brands that work very similarly.

Regards,

A. To remove the tarnish is not the point, what do you intend to do to prevent it from returning? There are products used in the printed circuits industry that prevent tarnish but on a temporary basis. A varnish or lacquer will help.

A. To remove tarnish from brass is best to polish it to the finish you want and then use a clear coat. This will keep it from tarnishing.

Sincerely,

A. Hi, Trom. To bright dip copper you need a solution that contains an oxidizing acid. Nitric acid is pretty nasty stuff, so I'd suggest you go with sulfuric acid plus hydrogen peroxide instead. This is available as a proprietary which contains stabilizers so the peroxide doesn't wastefully decompose too fast. A local plating supply house will understand what you are looking for. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi, Anne. I suspect it's cast iron with copper plating. If so, you will not get it to good condition yourself because most of the plating is gone. But the first step is to test it with a magnet: if it's magnetic, it's steel or iron, so you only options are to paint it or have it replated. If it's not magnetic, it is probably solid brass, bronze, or copper and it can be cleaned aggressively with a strong brass polish.

Your 1907 stuff will not be aluminum, but other readers with newer stuff should not jump to the conclusion that their stuff is not :-(

Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hello Joel. There probably isn't really a 'best' anymore than a Chevy, Dodge, or Ford Truck is truly 'best'. If the brass is bright all over or in spots, it is probably lacquered and the lacquer must first be removed with lacquer thinner [on eBay or Amazon]. Then you can polish it with any of a dozen or more brass polishes. Then you can spray it with lacquer. Lacquer can be ordered in volume from G.J. Nikolas [a finishing.com supporting advertiser], or in single spray cans: brass lacquer [on eBay or Amazon] .

Luck & Regards,

A. Ok, don't laugh. For heavily tarnished brass soak the item in Coca Cola for a few days (sometimes up to a week for heavy tarnish). It will not remove the tarnish entirely, but will make it easy to scrub off using a stiff brush and either Brasso [on eBay or Amazon] or Comet cleaner in a thin paste. Follow up with Brasso to brighten finish and then clear coat it for a finish that will last. Note: you may need to change the Coke after a day or two.

A. Hi, Kirsty. Please see my answer to Anne, above. I believe your situation is the same.

Regards,

A. Hello everyone. I know everyone has asked over and over again how to remove the heavy tarnish from brass, but with no real answers that have proved effective. Well now I am going to tell everyone the secret of the pros, and how to do it in three easy steps.

First of all, you need to remove the heavy black staining that is preventing you from getting to the brass to polish it. To do this, you apply Naval Jelly [affil links] .
to the brass with a brush. Let it sit on the brass for 5 to 10 minutes, and then scrub off with a toothbrush or a sponge. If it is heavily, heavily tarnished, you might need 2 coats.

Second thing is to fire up the buffing wheel, and then rub a brown tripoli rouge (polishing/buffing compound) [affil links] block on it. Once a little of the tripoli has rubbed off on the buffing wheel, start buffing out all the scratches and scuffs, quickly bringing the brass to a shine.

The final thing to do once you have done the pre polish with the tripoli, is rub a little "Red Rouge" [jeweler's rouge (polishing/buffing compound) [affil links]] on the buffing wheel, and then shine your brass up on the wheel with it, to whatever degree of luster you desire.

If you don't have a buffing wheel, you can repeat the entire process, but with using "tripoli", and "Red Rouge" in powder form, and rubbing by hand.

I was about to pull my hair out when I couldn't get a brass fan blade on an antique fan to look even somewhat presentable with Brasso. I was lucky enough to get the local silversmith to tell me exactly what he and every other silver plater, and silversmith uses to get brass to a mirror shine. My black corroded brass fan blade looked like a mirror after about 20 minutes, following this exact procedure.

As far as the products needed. Make sure the Naval Jelly is the pink kind. It will literally melt the black tarnish away with almost no effort whatsoever from you to remove it within 5 to 10 minutes. A buffer wheel is no more than a desk top grinder with a buffing pad applied to one side. You can even have buffing pads on both sides: 1 for the tripoli, and 1 for the red rouge, if you plan on buffing a lot of brass. The tripoli and red rouge can easily and readily be found on ebay for under $20 .

A. Hi, Allan.

The easy way is with a strong brass and copper polish like Revere Copper & Stainless Cleaner.

If this doesn't give enough shine, you will probably have to buff them with a buffing pad on a Dremel tool, a rechargeable drill, or an actual buffing machine. For the buffing compound you can certainly try just copper polish, but you may need to move on on a real buffing compound. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Just to advise that if you are in search of a product or some material to remove highly tarnished brass or copper the combination of vinegar and Iodized salt is the combination to use. This will remove the tarnish from the bronze or copper upon making contact with the tarnished piece. This has been proven. Upon applying you should immediately wash off the contents with water. Please note that the results will be a dull finish. You should use Brasso to get a shiny finished surface.

A. Barkeepers Friend [on eBay or Amazon] works wonders for removing tarnish from brass and other metals too!

A. Hi Karl. Brass lacquer may be the best choice since it is formulated for the exact purpose .

Regards,

A. Hi Sandy. Despite it not looking like a shiny lacquer coating, I think it's very likely to have a matte clear coat on top of the antiquing for durability. And that clear coat is probably a two-component automotive clear coat that you won't easily remove. If you can get the drain fitting out to work on it outdoors, and with goggles and rubber gloves, you can probably get the coating off with noxious aircraft stripper. Once that's off, the antiquing can probably be removed with steel wool or brass wool and brass polish. Good luck.

Regards,