How to clean heavy patina on brass door handles?

[walter]

My house is 30 yeas old. the brass handles on three doors have never been
cleaned or polished. See photo.

What can I do to make them look a bit more presentable? Preferably without a
lot of hard work.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/1000337j.jpg/

--
www.rationality.net

[recycl...@gmail.com]

Remove and https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=628&q=bench+polishing+wheel&oq=bench+poli&gs_l=img.1.1.0j0i24l8j0i5i24.10816.14572.0.18291.10.10.0.0.0.0.160.963.8j2.10.0...0.0...1ac.x7IEvkllCpU

[Vic Smith]

On Thu, 9 Aug 2012 15:38:19 -0700, "walter" <som...@texample.com>
wrote:

Try rubbing with Brasso or Glo metal polish. Use a soft cloth.
If that doesn't work for you, use a wheel as the other post said.
They'll tarnish again unless you coat them with something.
I polished a lot of brass in the Navy, and we never coated it.
Just polished it again. And again. And again.

--
Vic

[tra...@optonline.net]

On Aug 9, 6:41 pm, recyclebin...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Thursday, August 9, 2012 3:38:19 PM UTC-7, walter wrote:
> > My house is 30 yeas old. the brass handles on three doors have never been
>
> > cleaned or polished. See photo.
>
> > What can I do to make them look a bit more presentable? Preferably without a
>
> > lot of hard work.
>
> >http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/1000337j.jpg/
>
> > --
>
> >www.rationality.net
>

> Remove andhttps://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&safe=off&site=imghp&tbm=is...- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

It probably depends to a large extent on if they
are real solid brass or some cheaper, crap. Given
that they are 30 years old, I wouldn't be surprised
that they aren't the real deal. And if they aren't then
they may wind up looking even worse.

Whatever you try, I'd start on the back side.

[willshak]

The only brass I had to polish in the Navy was a belt buckle.

--
Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeros after @

[Norminn]

Solid brass? If so, use very fine steel wool and Brasso. Follow
directions on can, but remove Brasso with the steel wool. Clean up with
soft cotton cloth. Do not handle with bare hands after cleaning. Wipe
down with denatured alcohol and apply coat or two of your favorite clear
finish. I rejuvenated an old piano and polished up the brass using this
method, and other projects afterward; works beautifully. If there are
fine scratches from the steel wool, they won't show after clear finish.

[gregz]

willshak <will...@00hvc.rr.com> wrote:
> Vic Smith wrote the following on 8/9/2012 6:49 PM (ET):
>> On Thu, 9 Aug 2012 15:38:19 -0700, "walter" <som...@texample.com>
>> wrote:
>>>> My house is 30 yeas old. the brass handles on three doors have never
>>>> been >> cleaned or polished. See photo.
>>>
>>> What can I do to make them look a bit more presentable? Preferably
>>> without a >> lot of hard work.
>>>
>>> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/1000337j.jpg/
>>> Try rubbing with Brasso or Glo metal polish. Use a soft cloth.
>> If that doesn't work for you, use a wheel as the other post said.
>> They'll tarnish again unless you coat them with something.
>> I polished a lot of brass in the Navy, and we never coated it.
>> Just polished it again. And again. And again.
>>
>
> The only brass I had to polish in the Navy was a belt buckle.

Polishing the buckle in the army, first you take off the protective
coating.

Greg

[mark.ra...@gmail.com]

It has a finish on it like lacquer or it would have tarnished 29 years ago, it could end up better to replace it rather than buff it on a powered buffer as a pro would do. Experiment with crass cleaner and se what happens

[Vic Smith]

On Fri, 10 Aug 2012 02:56:48 +0000 (UTC), gregz <ze...@comcast.net>
wrote:

Don't recall polishing a belt buckle. Only time they would show is
when wearing dungarees. A flashy belt buckle with oil-stained
dungarees wouldn't look right.
OTOH, I spent many hours shining SS fireroom deck plates.
Yep, shined all the fireroom "floors," ladders, hand rails, brass
telegraph bells, brass talk funnels, and a few other brass pieces I
can't recall now. Ship was pretty new.
Mindless activity. so mindless it was the time to go over casualty
control procedures in my head. That got off the shining duties quick
enough, but I did them for at least a year or more.
Still had to spit shine my dress shoes all 4 years. That was more
fun.

--
Vic

[N8N]

Can't see pics (checking usenet while taking a break @ work) so I
can't speak to your specific situation, but I've had good luck with
Eagle One wadding polish as purchased at your FLAPS (it's really
intended for polishing old school uncoated mag wheels) for cleaning up
brass doorknobs, switch plates, etc. Personally I don't mind a little
patina (at least on older houses) but sloppy paintwork makes me
stabby, so I've had to do this a couple times. Will leave a little
bit of protective coating on the brass, or you could wipe with solvent
after you're done and then use some spray clear lacquer to protect. I
did this once in a house that I was renting because my landlord was
going to replace all the 40's vintage hardware with new stuff and I
didn't want him to do that - he thought I was the greatest thing since
sliced bread :) (I also fixed an old paned window for him and he was
amazed that such things could actually be done...)

If you have a bench grinder, you could also use a loose, soft buffing
wheel and some polishing compound on that, will make fast work of the
job.

nate

[Frank]

On 8/9/2012 6:38 PM, walter wrote:

I'd use brass cleaner only and just work on it. Then I'd put a clear
tough finish on it and it should be good for several years. We have a
brass bed with clear finish that is over 30 years old and never needed
polishing.

Without finish you may be polishing once a year or more depending on
exposure.

I'd avoid steel wool or abrasives if I can as they will remove traces of
metal.

[Norminn]

If it is solid brass, very fine steel wool won't likely remove any more
brass than weathering and polishing do. It doesn't look like solid
brass, so cleaning it up might show the difference more clearly; leaving
as is will just allow more oxidation. Brass, outdoors and with no clear
coat, will likely lose it's shine in weeks; faster in salt air. Pretty,
heavy door handle - might look good even losing brass plating.

[Oren]

On Thu, 9 Aug 2012 15:52:19 -0700 (PDT), "tra...@optonline.net"
<tra...@optonline.net> wrote:

>Whatever you try, I'd start on the back side.

Ketchup - seriously. (even half a lemon with salt rubbed in)

(I've looked into this for cleaning an old brass boat propeller)

"...Former U.S. Marine Corps second lieutenant William H. Carroll, of
Haddonfield, New Jersey, says that a great way to clean brass or any
metal that oxidizes is by covering it with ketchup. "When I was a U.S.
Marine, we used ketchup to clean everything from brass buckles to
lieutenant's bars. Just lay the pieces side by side without letting
them touch each other. Paint on a good layer of ketchup and let them
sit overnight. Then rinse with warm water and dry thoroughly for a
nice shine." Bill notes that he recently used ketchup to clean dingy
brass hinges and doorknobs from a door he was repainting, letting the
hardware sit in a coating of ketchup for a few days before rinsing it
and rehanging the door. "The door looked like new!" Bill says."

The Editors of Yankee Magazine

<http://www.yankeemagazine.com/home/resources/clean-brass>
--

[Frank]

I agree. Just would not try abrasive as first step if not needed.

[Steve B]

"walter" <som...@texample.com> wrote in message
news:k01e4r$rtp$1...@dont-email.me...

I've had good luck with several items with Brasso.

Steve

[Keith]

<mark.ra...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:15d2c4bd-b2a3-4713...@googlegroups.com...

You can burn the old lacquer off. I don't know if you can still buy lighter
fluid but naptha or acetone will work. Slosh the stuff on and light it with
a match. (outside and far from anything you like, of course) Then use a
brass cleaner (Brasso, Noxon, etc) and rub. Relacquer with clear gloss
lacquer like Rustoleum. A light coat is fine for inside, but apply several
for the outside parts. I just did every knob and handle in the house last
spring and it's really not that onerous. The lacquer stinks so spray that
where you have good ventilation.

[Dick Long]

On 8/11/2012 1:49 AM, ktos wrote:
> Just leave it alone. There is nothing wrong with the way it looks. I bet
> you're the same sort of person that would remove original paint on an
> antique and ruin the value.

What's wrong with that?

I buy an occasional piece of antique furniture because of the
construction and physical appearance. Then I strip it and apply new
finish so it matches the room. Sometimes I spray paint, sometimes stain
and lacquer. It just depends on where it's going.

[Keith]

"ktos" <kt...@abc987.net> wrote in message
news:5025f27a$0$45027$c3e8da3$3388...@news.astraweb.com...

> Just leave it alone. There is nothing wrong with the way it looks. I bet
> you're the same sort of person that would remove original paint on an
> antique and ruin the value.

A 30 year old door handle in that condition is only worth the value of the
metal. It's on the outside of his house for Pete's sake, of course he wants
it to look nice. An antique home with its original paint would have long
since collapsed from exposure to the elements.

[gregz]

My door tapper was black looking. Didn't look like that pic. I mostly
cleaned it up, but kept some of the old look. Sprayed krylon clear.

Greg

[akshay...@gmail.com]

Lemon juice

If you've ever had a lemon tree in your backyard, or even somewhere in your neighbourhood, you will have discovered that there are only so many ways you can eat or drink lemons before these prolific trees are simply wasting their fruit! However, they are especially handy for cleaning things around the home, either when juiced or simply chopped in half.

To clean brass with lemon juice, you can either use it neat, or mixed with vinegar and/or baking soda.

[Oren]

On Sun, 9 Feb 2014 11:32:21 -0800 (PST), akshay...@gmail.com
wrote:

>To clean brass with lemon juice, you can either use it neat, or mixed with vinegar and/or baking soda.

...or just use ketchup

[Stormin Mormon]

Lemon juice plus baking soda
should fizz and neutralize.

--
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

[bgust...@gmail.com]

[Micky]

On Mon, 29 Feb 2016 13:22:29 -0800 (PST), bgust...@gmail.com wrote:

>On Thursday, August 9, 2012 at 6:38:19 PM UTC-4, walter wrote:
>> My house is 30 yeas old. the brass handles

Brasso?

[TimR]

Here is why you polish it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJRt2a45uqk


(I can't believe nobody has responded with this so far.)