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How do I clean copper without the red after tone?

 

I am attempting to clean/refinish several, small copper or copper plated antique figurines. I know from the school science experiments that my kids did with pennies that vinegar [in bulk on eBay or Amazon], ketchup, and acids clean the oxidation very well but leave the copper an unnatural red color. Is there a recommended method of pretreating or after-treating that will eliminate this? Or is there a commercial cleaning solution that will accomplish this without the red tone? This is a one time home use project I understand that most industrial solutions would not be suitable in this environment.

Guy Reddick
- Atlanta, Georgia

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After I am through playing with lemon juice and ketchup and soy sauce and all the other stuff that turns our Revere Ware salmon colored, my wife tells me to finish the job with Brasso [on eBay or Amazon], and it works.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

I'm trying to clean-up, polish and reuse old copper handles, hinges, and screws on my pine kitchen cabinets. Handles and hinges are 50+ yrs. old (heart shaped at the ends) and have a slightly indented texturing which is meant to be darker. Even the screws are textured and beveled. Too many corners and crevices to polish! I've tried Brasso (which required an hour of polishing and strong fumes on one handle). I now have one half of the handle soaking in ketchup and the other half soaking in white vinegar and do not notice any miraculous. Help!

Audrey Mullarney
- Lebanon, Connecticut, USA
 

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If you add some salt to that white vinegar (maybe 1 teaspoon per cup), and stir, I think you'll see it turn the copper a bright salmon color with little to no rubbing. But, per my previous message, you may not like that color too much and may want to finish up with Brasso.

A compromise might be something like Revere copper cleaner [Ed. update 2023: no longer available] . It is way faster than Brasso (probably because it contains food-grade citric acid ), but it leaves the copper a realistic copper color rather than the salmon color of cleaning with vinegar & salt.

 
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

Ketchup ruined my copper sink. I tried cleaning my copper sink with ketchup and left it on too long. Now it's a salmon color. Can it be saved? What can I use to remove the salmon color?

Shelley Haynes
Hobbyist - Ventura, California, USA
January 25, 2008

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Store bought commercial brass or copper polishes will make it warm, Shelley. Maybe not instantly, but soon. Ketchup and other home cleaners that contain vinegar are quick, and okay for removing heavy tarnish on durable items, but they dissolve all of the oxide and patina and leave this salmon color.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
January 25, 2008

I have the same heart shaped kitchen hardware..How did it go?

Sonia Pinheiro
- New Bedford, Massachusetts
January 15, 2011

I too have those copper heart door pulls and they are only copper plated. Any way you try to clean them will take the finish off. Especially if they have years of nasty finger oil build up on them.

Luna Lynn Frey
- Madison, Wisconsin
July 11, 2012