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-----:Restoring oil-rubbed bronze finish on sink drain that's turned brassy?
Quickstart:
Oil rubbed bronze is brass, brass plating, copper, or copper plating which has received a chemical blackening treatment followed by a clearcoat to protect it. We have about 2 dozen threads about oil rubbed bronze, so If your need involves other than sink drains, you may prefer to search the site for 'oil rubbed bronze' + '(your topic)'.
Although it might be possible in other circumstances to substitute a paint or patina instead of the real thing, paints and patinas may not hold up on a sink.
Repairing an oil rubbed bronze finish is probably beyond the skill level of the average hobbyist or homemaker, but it involves stripping the old clearcoat, applying a brass blackening treatment, and re-applying a clearcoat.
Read on, join in ...
Q. I left a cleaner in the sinks too long and the oil rubbed bronze finish stripped away, is there a way to fix this that doesn't require replacing the parts?
- El Cajon, CA
April 28, 2026
A. Hi Sarah,
I believe that you can brown up the salmon color so it doesn't catch the eye with any brass darkening solution, including the Birchwood stuff listed below. After you've darkened it, any clearcoat, like brass lacquer, or even clear nail polish, will help prolong its life.
But if you want a smooth like new appearance that would probably be an impractical amount of work, but read on.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
⇩ Similar, related, Q&As -- oldest first ⇩
Q. My wife inadvertently used an abrasive sponge to clean my new oil rubbed bronze bathroom sink drain. It now has a "whitish" look to it.As a homeowner, is there anything I can do to restore the original finish or do I have to replace the drain?
Stephen NewmanHomeowner - Spring Valley, New York
2005
Q. The person who cleans my house scoured the oil-rubbed bronze finish sink drain so that it now looks like brass. Is there some way to restore this finish, or even come close in looks? Thanks.
Howard PollackHome owner - Richmond, California, USA
A. We consumers rarely know what a finish actually is in this age of high technology finishes ... only what it "looks like"; and many finishes can't stand up to scouring like the old nickel-chrome plating did. Your finish may not actually involve oil, or rubbing, or bronze 🙂
The finish might be a vacuum-applied PVD coating, or a tinted electrophoretic lacquer which is no longer there. But it's most probably copper or brass that had been chemically darkened with a brass darkening solution like liver of sulfur
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, followed by a lacquer or other clearcoat. So hopefully it will be possible to remove the rest of the clearcoat if any, restore the dark color either with a darkening chemical, or maybe even by laying a few broken hard boiled eggs on the drain overnight, covered by plastic wrap. If you get it a likable shade of dark, you can polish if you wish to get lighter highlights, then apply brass lacquer or other clearcoat to give it at least a bit of wear resistance. Not saying it's easy, but iff you like to play and learn, success may not be impossible 🙂
But if you want a rapid sure-fire solution there probably isn't one. Be careful to try to keep the darkening solution and lacquer off the rest of the sink. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
Base between faucets and sink disolored
Q. I have a master bathroom issue. My oil based finish on my faucets looks awful. The metal base is corroded & blue. My 3 faucets look brand new but the bottom base that holds the 3 faucets looks awful. What kind of paint can I use? I would prefer paint not spay paint.
Cheryl Dietrich- Tampa, Florida
April 30, 2021
A. Hi Cheryl. Please mail a photo of it to [email protected] for posting here if you can so we can better understand exactly what you are confronting. I guess you're describing some sort of escutcheon in between the faucets and the sink. I suspect that the faucets have a PVD 'lifetime finish' on them while the escutcheon was oil rubbed bronze with a clearcoat lacquer which has worn through enough to let the copper or brass corrode, generating this blue coloration. Getting good paint adhesion in such circumstances is difficult. You should probably get the escutcheon as clean and dry as you can, then apply a self-etching primer made for metal before you apply a finish coat that matches your faucets.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
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