cleaning brass

[alegna#45]

does anyone know of a quick way to clean brass? I know silver can be cleaned by placing tin foil in a plastic dish and adding soda crystals but havn't tried it on brass in case it riuns it, love brass when it is shiny but it's such a chore to clean.

[society]

My grandmother used to rub them down with lemon and then give them a good buffing. Sometimes she would use a cleaner call Brasso to clean them.

[alegna#45]

thanks society, i use brasso at the moment, but will try the lemon.

[Clanad]

Tomato juice works on copper... you could try it on brass...

[RATTER15]

Plenty of elbow grease!! available at your local chemist.

[mushen]

Depending on how bad the tarnish is, Limelite (limescale remover) works. The only thing it doesn't do is prevent the tarnish coming back. The best thing to use is Brasso, it smells awful but does the job and keeps it tarnish free for longer. One thing you can do after the brass has been cleaned is to coat the item using metal lacquer (get it from craft shop or similar) - it dries quickly and prevents tarnishing (which is caused by oxidisation - eg, exposure to air). Brass items such as door handles do not tarnish because they have been lacquered).