Any Suggestions?
 

I just purchased an antique brass bed, it's absolutely beautiful, that is badly tarnished. I'm looking for the EASIEST way to polish it to it's original beauty.....Any Suggestions? :thanks:

If it can be easily taken apart I'd suggest soaking it in a solution of liquid polishing solution. If it can't then place the frame work on a tarp and take your time with some cream polish, a few soft terry cloth rags, and a car bufffing kit. If you put enough time into it you'll have it gleaming and ready to be squeaking in no time. The new shine will really bring out the color of the silk scarves.

The easiest way is to think of it as patina rather than tarnish...all the DIY shows say not to polish stuff up anymore, that the tarnish is proof of antiquity...we have an old metal bed frame that was gold painted, we just cleaned it up & left it as is...

I'm a weirdo and actually enjoy polising things with Brasso.

Unfortunatley no easy way to go about it....polish with Brasso....take your time and make it gleam...then spray lightly with hairspray...the hairspray will keep it looking shiny for longer

Be careful of some dunk-and-come-out-gleaming cleaners...they can do the metal more damage than good in the long run

Ok...so I'm gonna have to actually work at it...I thought so..lol So, you think a electric buffer would help?

Ok, so that would be the EASIEST way...but unfortunately there are no hotties waiting to help me out :( lol

I know I'm going to have to end up using Brasso, but my right shoulder might not hold out....and I do believe pictures are definitely possible! lol

I'll volunteer to take the pictures TT.......... after you're appropriately bound to it ofcourse! ;)

After you polish with Brasso ,don't use hairspray to much achocol in it ,use clear lacquer or a spray on clear coat from an auto parts store its more durable

A friend told me today to....yes this is going to sound strange....try ketchup that the acid in it would eat the tarnish...well I tried a little spot and weird enough it worked!!...Now I'm wondering if this would damage the brass.

Salt and lemon juice is magic for copper. I don't know of anything like that for brass though.

This page seems to have some good ideas. I hope that you can get by with a wipe on cleanup with little or no elbow or shoulder grease.

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/brass

When I got out of college I had a cool brass bed frame. The side rails were loose so when ever I was rockin' the bed with a sweetie it would announce to the world what we were doing. The frame was a real 'screamer' but it did keep rhythm with us :) I wish that I still had that bed frame now.

Another weird household item that works is Blue Cheese Salad Dressing. I got some on my copper sautee pan and when I washed it off...there was a brilliantly shiny spot! I was so pissed! Because I'm so damn anal, I had to polish the whole pan! :mad:

Cola works wonders on brass, according to my mother. Personally I don't possess anything brass so have never tried it myself.

Since no one seems to wanna go along with my idea of leaving the tarnish in place, here's my advice if you must clean it up...anything that takes the tarnish off is gonna do some small damage to the surface of the metal, but nothing major unless you leave it on for a prolonged period...to reduce the elbow grease involved, a buffer would be good, if you can get your hands on an electric drill (preferrably cordless) there are buffing padsthat fit right into the chuck...ask any guys you know, most have at least one drill, & wouldn't mind loaning it out to a "damsel in distress" (esp if they think it imploves their chance of getting some :rolleyes2 ). for tight corners & any fine detail parts, a Dreml or other rotary tool also have small buffers that come in real handy. I've cleaned up some silver & brass objects for sale on Ebay using the above mentioned tools & rubbing compound (also known as jeweler's rouge) with good results...just go easy & don't rub excessively in one spot, after all your goal is to take off just a very thin layer of oxidized metal & nothing more...