labelle
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posted on September 12, 2003 04:23:46 AM new
Hi
I bought a really finely detailed, India brass tray. The previous owner used a paste cleaner! Yep--you guessed it --all the detailed stampings are filled with white residue. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to get the white dried cleaner out of all the depressions?? I tried basically soaking in warm soapy water and a soft brush.No go!
Thanks!
Cathy
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paloma91
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posted on September 12, 2003 05:28:30 AM new
Try vinegar and salt. Use a soft old toothbrush carefullly. I use that to polish my brass
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labelle
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posted on September 12, 2003 12:35:31 PM new
Thanks Paloma91!
Is there any particular proportions of salt and vinegar to use? Do you desolve the salt in the vinegar?
This is an exceptional tray and I would like to get that white out! There are hundreds of tiny dots filled with white dried cleaner!Back is still coated!I have passed by pieces before for this same reason..
Anyone else have any ideas?
Cathy
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paloma91
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posted on September 12, 2003 04:12:46 PM new
I am sorry, I just got home from work. Ok, here is what I do. ONLY USE VINEGAR AND SALT Don't add any water. Use a dry sponge and dry toothbrush (An old one that you won't be using on your teeth again)
I put some vinegar in one little bowl and salt in the other. Dampen the sponge with vinegar and set it aside. dip the dry toothbrush first in the vinegar and then into the salt. I use that to polish the crevaces of the brass item. Do that first. Then you can use the vinegar dampened sponge to wipe off the excess. Repeat the process until you get what you can get off. To polish a big smooth area: Use your "used" sponge that now has salt and vinegar on it to polish the rest of the brass item.
I have dampened a dry sponge with vinegar and sprinkled some salt on it and polished a brass plate before. Worked great! Even better than the store bought brass polish and non abrasive
If you are polishing a big smooth item, you can forget the toothbush step. But remember you can always use the toothbrush in the corners where the sponge misses. DO NOT use abrasives!! You know those two sided sponges you can use in the kitchen. Don't use it, it will scratch your item and leave ugly scratch line marks
This process show alteast decrease the amount of white stuff that you had originally in the design. If you still need more work, use a wooden toothpick with the vinegar/ salt.
When you are done, wash off your brass item with soap and water and dry it.
Please let me know how it went.
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Roadsmith
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posted on September 12, 2003 05:52:02 PM new
Labelle: Yes, please do let us know how it worked! Sounds like a real lifesaver.
___________________________________
SMILE ANYWAY!
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labelle
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posted on September 12, 2003 07:21:23 PM new
Paloma--Thanks for the details about cleaning!!!!! I will be away at an Arts Festival tomorrow--but will give it a shot on Sunday and will report back!
I have passed up a lot of these India brass pieces in the past because of the white in the detailing and have a feeling brass will make a comeback. It has been maybe 20 years since China brass was hot. That is about right for a popularity cycle!
This tray weighs about 5 pounds and has great allover work.If I remember, I will do before and after images.
Cathy
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AuctionAce
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posted on September 12, 2003 07:31:55 PM new
I recently bought an elaborate brass figure that had brasso or brass cleaner residue in the nooks and crannies. I looked up cleaning brass on Google and go several sites with tips including Paloma's advice. One of the things I had that was listed was lemon juice and that worked very well.
-------------- sig file ----------- President John F. Kennedy said, "There are three things which are real: God, human folly and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension, so we must do what we can with the third."
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dacreson
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posted on September 12, 2003 08:28:51 PM new
"dry toothbrush (An old one that you won't be using on your teeth again"
Hey I like that and my 13 teeth were a tade yellow anyway 
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sparkz
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posted on September 12, 2003 08:53:13 PM new
You might try getting a cheap piece at a swap meet that has lots of that white polish in the crevices and experimenting with ammonia and a tooth brush. As well as I remember from my army days, that was the active ingredient in Brasso, which was an absolute necessity in BCT. I know it will remove the tarnish and dirt, but I would experiment with a throw away piece before I tried it on a brass piece I wanted to list. On any piece of brass, you always want to weigh the value of the patina against the detriment of the gook in the grooves. If it's old, I would do nothing to it and list it as is and explain in the description that you will tell the new owner how to clean and polish it if he desires a shiny piece. Sometimes, depending on the item, that patina is 90% of the value of the item
.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
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Roadsmith
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posted on September 12, 2003 10:19:48 PM new
Hey, y'all--this is off the subject but I had to share it with you. Tonight I heated some Trader Joe's tomato soup (with roasted red pepper, very yummy). Poured some into a bowl and a little spilled down the sides of my Revereware pot. Everywhere the tomato soup dripped cleaned the copper like brand new. It was just astounding. I'm thinking I'll just heat up some tomato soup in a shallow pan sometime and dip all my copper-bottom pots and pans in it.
I know I've read before that tomato juice can clean copper but never had tried it or seen positive proof.
___________________________________
SMILE ANYWAY!
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AuctionAce
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posted on September 13, 2003 06:54:45 AM new
Tomato juice is one of the few things that can get rid or greatly lessen a skunk's scent too.
-------------- sig file ----------- President John F. Kennedy said, "There are three things which are real: God, human folly and laughter. The first two are beyond our comprehension, so we must do what we can with the third."
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stopwhining
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posted on September 13, 2003 07:02:20 AM new
i need that-get rid of all the skunks in my life and start anew!!
-sig file -------The thrill is gone!!
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paloma91
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posted on September 13, 2003 07:11:40 AM new
My poor dog used to get "skunked" atleast a few times a year. these guys were getting so bold they would show up during the day. I got so mad I ended up kicking the poor creatures. No sleep for weeks at a time will do that to you. the first time, I tried to ole tomato juice trick. Didnt work.
What did work is first rubbing the animal down with a dry towel. (yes the stink will wash off in the washer) Then used a flea shampoo and used another dry towel Repeated the process until the stench was lessened to the point that I could handle it or I stopped passing out from the smell (joking about the passing out part)
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stonecold613
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posted on September 13, 2003 11:18:24 PM new
Spaghetti sauce, ketchup, taco sauce. It all works very well.
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labelle
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posted on September 17, 2003 01:20:00 PM new
Hi
Sorry-I didn't get back sooner!! I finally had time and tried 3 methods suggested to clean brass--because I had the stuff here at home. Salt and Vinegar, Lemon and Ketchup.All three cleaned the flat areas really nicely--shiny!Ketchup and Salt and Vinegar got some of the white in the crevices out. None damaged. None really did any good for the dried white polish.
Maybe I will do as suggested and list it "as is" with the polish in the crevices and mention how wonderful the tray is and how I wouldn't want to damage the delicate detailing!
SIGH--I wonder if cooking oil would make the white solvent?
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wendywins
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posted on September 17, 2003 10:40:02 PM new
When I was a kid, my brothers and I used to take cruddy pennies and drop them in Taco Bell Hot Sauce. It was amazing how well that stuff works! Makes you wonder what it's doing to your insides...
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