custard
Established Member
I had some tarnished brass components recently that needed cleaning.
If they had been flat it's easy enough to just abrade them clean. But with knurling and threads it's not so simple. When I was antique restoring this was a common problem, and one way of handling it was to mix up 1 tablespoon each of White Vinegar, Plain Flour, and Salt. It forms a thick paste, which you daub on to the tarnished brass or bronze component (often a hinge, escutcheon, or lock plate).
Leave overnight and wipe off. No heavy rubbing needed so great for hard to reach areas, works equally well on weathered brass which has turned black.
Thought some might find this useful for tool restorations. There's another recipe we used to use that cleans but leaves more of the patination, but for the life of me I can't remember what that was?
If they had been flat it's easy enough to just abrade them clean. But with knurling and threads it's not so simple. When I was antique restoring this was a common problem, and one way of handling it was to mix up 1 tablespoon each of White Vinegar, Plain Flour, and Salt. It forms a thick paste, which you daub on to the tarnished brass or bronze component (often a hinge, escutcheon, or lock plate).
Leave overnight and wipe off. No heavy rubbing needed so great for hard to reach areas, works equally well on weathered brass which has turned black.
Thought some might find this useful for tool restorations. There's another recipe we used to use that cleans but leaves more of the patination, but for the life of me I can't remember what that was?
