How do you dull brass

There are numerous ways to clean solid brass. Your approach should depending on the level of dust, dirt, or tarnish that has built up. Here are a few tips and techniques:.

There are a few areas of concern that you should be aware of when it comes to polishing and cleaning brass:. Regular cleaning and polishing with a microfiber cloth will help keep dust and dirt from accumulating and keep your brass accents lovely and lustrous.

Disclosure: BobVila. You can also use an old toothbrush to clean the crevices of the lamp. Once you are satisfied with the cleaning, rinse the lamp using warm water and dry it up thoroughly. It is a great to clean brass. If there are some tough stains, dirt or tarnish on the gold and brass lamps, you can use tomato ketchup, paste or sauce, which is a great to clean brass and polish brass. Rub a thin coat of one of these on the surface of the lamp and let it sit for at least an hour.

Once done, clean it thoroughly with hot soapy water. You can also use simple kitchen ingredients to clean gold and brass lamps. Make a mixture of equal portions of white vinegar, flour and salt. Mix it well and apply it to the surface of the tarnished lamps. Let it sit for at least an hour. Now rinse it with warm water and let it dry. All the tarnish will disappear and the lamps will look as good as new. Another great method to clean and polish brass and gold lamps is to wash it up with a combination of salt and lemon.

Take a lemon, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Take on half of the lemon and coat it with salt. Now rub it on the surface of the tarnished brass and gold lamps.

You can recoat the lemon and salt as needed. Cover the entire surface of the lamp with this, take a clean and dry cloth and buff the lamp to a shine. You can also make a mixture of one part lemon juice and two parts cream of tartar. Make it into a paste and cover the lamp with it. Let the mixture sit on the gold and brass lamp for about 30 minutes. Rinse with warm water and buff dry until it shines. Commercial polishes and metal cleaners are also very effective in cleaning and polishing gold and brass lamps.

We like to use WD Do not touch the surface that you want to patina. You can use wire or fishing line to suspend the metal or piece of jewelry just below the mouth of the jar. I taped the ends of two pieces of fishing line to the outside of the jar to create a little cradle.

The piece must not come in contact with the liquid ammonia. Screw on the lid and wait a couple hours. You can check the piece to see what color you want to stop at. The ammonia odor on your piece should fade quickly, but if you want, you can leave the piece out for a while before very gently buffing out any high points for contrast. Of course you can use the tried and true, non-eco-friendly method of adding a patina to your metal with the use of chemicals like Liver of Sulphur, Black Max, and Antique Patina Solution.

Some chemicals can be caustic and must be handled with care, both during the process of patination and while disposing of the chemicals afterward. Here are some safety tips:. Choose which chemical you want to achieve the patina you want. The most important first step is to make sure your piece is clean before you start. If the piece is all metal, I usually dunk the whole thing in a very warm solution of Liver of Sulfur and water.

I will dunk until I get the color I want then immediately dunk in a cup of cold water with a teaspoon of baking soda mixed in to stop the oxidation process. Liver of Sulfur is probably my favorite for getting different colors on Copper and Silver. Black Max is the best for getting the metal completely black. You can use Liver of Sulfur to get your pieces black but it will take longer. I always dip my oxidized pieces in a solution of cold water and baking soda to stop the oxidation process no matter what chemical I use.

I then gently wash the piece in a solution of dish soap and water, rinse and dry. Dawn dish soap is my favorite but any will do as long as it is transparent. The ones with moisturizers in them just make them greasy, in my opinion.

Depending on the look you are going for, you can either use a clean soft cloth to buff the piece for a nice shine or if it has raised areas you can use a Propolish Cloth, Sunsheen Polishing Cloth or green 3M scrubby to gently remove the patina from the raised area while leaving the recessed areas dark. Keep in mind that the patina on oxidized metal is temporary, unless you seal it with some kind of fixative. You can use an acrylic spray, acrylic liquid, or any other clear fixative to seal in the surface color.

I would not recommend patinas on rings though. You wash your hands and rub against many things with your hands so the chances of that patina being scratched off or worn out will happen quicker than you will like, even with a fixative. However, we believe that the process of tarnishing allows for afar more authentic finish, perfect for traditional brassware.

Not only that, lacquer generally begins to wear off after a couple of years infact much quicker in salty environments. The product will look unsightly at this point as the finish will be so uneven. But do not confuse the tarnishing for corrosion. The more residue, pollution or salt that is in the air, the quicker the brass will tarnish dull down. If you like your brass clean and shiny it will need more regular cleaning. Personally i am very happy to let my brass tarnish to a darker patina — light polish to the edges every once in a while i chose to use Brasso helps to define the pattern.

Brass has been used for door furniture for hundreds of years with good reason! Purchase good quality solid brass now, and it will last a life time.

Door knobs are available in antique brass, polished nickel, satin nickel, chrome, ebony, wood glass, porcelain, ceramic, forged iron and steel, pewter.