Question for those who polish brass..

[Jack Putnam, in Ohio]

I am seeing some tiny dark spots on the brass parts of my 1912. The spots are the size of ground black pepper flakes. What is the best method of removing them?

[TWrenn]

I am seeing some tiny dark spots on the brass parts of my 1912. The spots are the size of ground black pepper flakes. What is the best method of removing them?

Jack I get them every once in a while and so far just "extra vigorous" rubbing with good ol' Blue Magic seems to take care of it. So far anyway. Hope this helps. Tim

[Steve Jelf]

There are several good polishes. Some of them are costly and sold only on-line. Hating inconvenience, I have settled on Mother's because it's inexpensive, sold locally, and effective. I avoid the current Brasso, which I dislike intensely. The current formula is NOT what we used when I was in the army.

[TWrenn]

There are several good polishes. Some of them are costly and sold only on-line. Hating inconvenience, I have settled on Mother's because it's inexpensive, sold locally, and effective. I avoid the current Brasso, which I dislike intensely. The current formula is NOT what we used when I was in the army.

Yeh plain ol ketchup would work better than watered down Brasso and don't even think about "Never Dull" either! Tried em both...returned to Blue Magic. It's affordable too and all the stores have it.

[Dan McEachern]

Never Dull was a dud in my experience. Blue Magic is pretty good, Hagerty's seems about the same, but my fav is Simichrome.
Buy it on ebay and its a little cheaper than most places.

[1915ford]

Wenol. Especially good on water spots and heavy oxidation. The key is to apply it to the rag, not the work. Liquid polishes pool up in the seams and make everything look untidy. Lamp bags made from silver cloth help preserve the shine between events. Tried em all. Been using wenol since the 1990s cause it works. In my experience there is no shortcut in brass detailing. Its work, but worth it in my opinion.

[AndyClary]

I’ve found that different tasks call for different polishes. I recently was introduced to Blue Magic and it does a good job as a cleaning polish, the one you would use in the spring when your brass has sat all winter. For a higher polish Flitz or Maas gives a high gloss and good protection. I did a test of several polishes a few years ago and these two scored highest in clarity and lasting protection. Of course after I did my test everyone said “you didn’t test my favorite.” So we’ll be doing anoth Test this winter. I’ll post the details when we start.

Andy

[Erik Johnson]

For extremely tarnished brass, wear nitrile gloves and use Bar Keepers Friend (it is a mild abrasive and contains oxalic acid which works quickly and effortlessly), water and a small sponge, rag, or toothbrush, etc., rinse well with water. and then follow up with your favorite brass polish.

[Craig Leach]

Bad tarnish I wash with strong soap solution, wipe with CLR or Zepp equivalent, rinse well with clean water. I like rouge & a buffing wheel.
Then I'm a fan of SIMICHROME & BLUE-MAGIC & my really old Brasso . I like to apply several coats of good quality wax after to prevent oxidation
but some waxes discolor with heat so you may want to test first. If you use a high speed polish motor set up be very careful I once removed all
the skin from the back of my hand when I got the off edge of a headlight rim into the wheel & it jerked it out of my grip & it darn sure could
have been worse! any edge can get caught!
Craig.

[Allan]

I'll second Craig's recommendation and polishing by machine. You must NEVER buff in any direction but AWAY from an edge. It is too easy for an edge to catch on a buffing wheel and damage your brass beyond repair as it flings away, or takes the tip of your thumb off down to the bone. I was being careful polishing a brass headlight rim for nickel plating. I held the rim so that the mop was always dragging away from the crown and off the edge. The trouble was, I caught the opposite side of the rim on the back edge of the mop. Now my right thumb resembles my left one that I cut the tip off when chopping kindling as an 8 year old.

My hand polish of choice is Autosol. You can buy it in a tube or a bulk can. It is the consistency of tooth paste, so it goes only where you put it No messy liquid to deal with.

Allan from down under.