How to Clean & Polish Brass
If you want your brass to look its best, clean and polish it when it starts to lose its sheen. Often, a vigorous buffing with a soft, clean cloth is all that is required to make lightly dulled brass look shiny and new again. For more serious jobs, use a cleaning agent. Ketchup, an inexpensive ingredient that many people keep around their homes, works well to clean brass and is convenient due to its thicker viscosity. Ketchup works due to its acidic content. Substitute lemon juice, vinegar, or other acidic ingredients from around the kitchen for the ketchup, although they may be more difficult to control. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Squirt a quarter-sized blob of ketchup onto your cloth. Use a smaller amount, such as a dime-sized squirt, if the brass item is smaller, such as a brass knob or handle.
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Spread the ketchup on a portion of your brass object with the cloth and then buff vigorously until a high sheen develops.
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Buff the rest of the portions of your brass objects, adding more ketchup.
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Put the object under running water and rinse off all the ketchup. If the object is attached to something and can't be placed under running water, use a new, wet cloth to remove the ketchup.
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Dry and buff the brass object with a new, dry cloth.
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Tips & Warnings
Keep your brass looking good for longer by applying car wax to the surface of the metal after you clean it. Rub on the wax with a cloth and buff it until the wax can no longer be seen. This creates a protective coating.
There is no need to polish brass every week along with all your other chores. By overpolishing the surface, you could be shortening its lifespan. Only clean and polish brass when it starts to visibly lose its sheen.
