I am removing a century of tarnish from old window fasteners. Have got metal doctor polish but wondered if anyone had a tried and trusted tip to shift the build up especially on the handles which are quite dark. Thank you.
lilyfield,
Mar 28, 9:11am
salt and vinegar
smallwoods,
Mar 28, 9:38am
Oops read that wrong. There where 2 s's.
nzmax,
Mar 28, 10:07am
I used fine steel wool on the catches fitted to my double hung Villa windows to get the bulk of the tarnish off, then brasso with a rag over an ice cream stick to polish them up. You have to be careful with the steel wool so you dont put deep scratches in the brass. Also be careful if you have the type with the ceramic knob on the catch, as it is easy to scratch or damage the glaze on the ceramic part. After cleaning up the the catches in the bathroom and spare bedroom, I actually decided I preferred the darker tarnished colour of the catches, so left the rest. Once cleaned up, they will start to go dull/tarnish relatively quickly too.
deepdave,
Mar 29, 3:38am
Thanks.Yes, I think I started off making a few scratches but the colour has evened out a bit so not so obvious.I ll try the brasso and the salt and vinegar. Thought about replacing them with new retro ones but the brass looks really yellow and false,so might persevere with these old ones.They are in good working order after all this time.Thanks again.
maclad,
Mar 29, 4:42am
Well worth the time and effort in trying to restore them. Good luck.
reb53,
Mar 29, 5:19am
If you don't mind using up a lemon, cut that in half, dip it in salt, and get rubbing.
jan741,
Mar 29, 5:43am
soak them in coke a cola over night did it with some old scale weights and it works
max.headroom,
Mar 29, 8:48am
Also good for stainy toilet pans,tip a 2 ltr bottle in the pan and soak overnight
trade4us2,
Mar 29, 7:44pm
Once your brass is nice and shiny, spray with Wattyl Incralac, then you won't have to clean them again.
deepdave,
Dec 1, 10:17pm
Will give the coca cola a go this weekend. Did not know about the Incralac,thanks everybody.Hate to see the old stuff thrown out.
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