Refinishing brass & bronze table legs

A. Hi Bex.
I would suggest wiping withacetone [on eBay or Amazon]first because brass and bronze are frequently lacquered, and lacquers might react with paint, and acetone is a fairly good cleaner. Nail polish remover may be less flammable because of its water content, but acetone is, so be aware.

Then I'd use any primer made for metal, then you favorite shade of blue lacquer.

Luck & Regards,

A. The best thing would be to send the parts to a plating shop that does brass plating as this is not something you can do at home, Judy.

Hardware and mail-order stores have brass paint (like Metallic Spray Paint gilded brass [affil links]), but it looks like brass colored paint, rather than true brass, of course. The items should be lightly sanded and, if there is rust on them, rust converter [on eBay or Amazon] should be applied before the painting. Good luck!

A. Hi, Marcia.

A. If they are still bright instead of badly tarnished, it is because there is a lacquer or clearcoat protecting them from the atmosphere. Although you are free to paint your tables, of course, if your preference is to use a darkening solution, you must remove that lacquer or clearcoat so the darkening solution can get to the metal.

Lacquer can be removed with lacquer thinner [on eBay or Amazon]. If that doesn't work, the clearcoat isn't lacquer. Aircraft Stripper (methylene chloride) will remove just about any paint or clearcoat but is toxic, noxious stuff requiring goggles [on eBay or Amazon], rubber gloves [on eBay or Amazon], and very good outdoor ventilation.

After the lacquer or clearcoat is removed, brass darkening solution [on eBay or Amazon] should work.

If at all possible, however, try working on an inconspicuous area first because not everything that looks like brass actually is brass. Good luck.

Regards,

A. Hi Barb. I don't know how gold and silver got into the discussion of brass furniture legs :-)

Are you referring to brass plating or brass-toned lacquer but you're calling it gold as in "of a gold-like color"? And are you implying that you have reason to believe (such as from seeing a worn or sanded area) that there is a layer of "silvery colored" metal underneath the brass plating? Yes, it's quite possible that there is a layer of nickel plating under brass plating or brass toned lacquer.

See my previous response for how to remove lacquer or clear coats. You may luck out, and the color may be a tint in the lacquer rather than brass plating. It is theoretically possible to chemically remove brass plating from nickel plating -- see letter 8423 -- but you would probably have to send the items to a plating shop; it's probably not practical to do it in a residential environment, so you would be limited to sanding the brass plating off. Good luck.

Regards,