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Q&As since 1989


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Polishing a brass buckle

I am in The United States Army and have been trying to shine my Brass Buckle for awhile now. The problem is no matter how much I buff it there is always little scratches on it. I use a very soft flannel cotton that they call baby diaper cotton. Was wondering if you know of anything that I may use to help me with this situation.

Steve
military - Sierra Vista, Arizona, United States
2003

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I have had some luck with a product called Nevr-Dull [affil links]. It leaves a coating that you may want to wash off. Once you get the shine you are after, look into keeping it with microcrystalline wax. Museums use this on brass items, and it works very well on badges.

Sean Averill
amateur hobby boy - Des Moines, Iowa, USA
2004

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2004

Steve, this has never been an easy job, same as spit shining boots. First you need to remove the lacquer coating on the brass, then polish the buckle. We used to use a brass polish called Brasso [on eBay or Amazon], with enough hard rubbing to take off the lacquer (or you could use a solvent) then polish with a soft cloth. We also used "Q" tips to clean the inside of the buckles, which were checked at inspections.

Good luck, and thanks.

Ed (101 Airborne)

Ed Kay
- St. Louis, Missouri, USA