MTFCA Forum

I've got a lot of brass to clean on the 11T that I am restoring. Some of the brass is heavily corroded. I used Brasso on the 15 runabout that I restored. It works okay, but I was wondering if there is a better product for cleaning and polishing brass that someone can suggest.

Thanks,

Neal

I like Blue Magic metal polish. I get it at O'Reillys auto parts stores in my area.

Wenol is some of the best polish/cleaner I've used.

My brass polisher always liked Mothers before She went on strike. It will be 40 years this year so I better let the strike continue!

After you clean your brass pieces use Cape Cod polishing cloths. You will be amazed how the polishing cloths will polish your brass after you’ve used them. Also work great polishing the headlight reflectors.

I differentiate between removing tarnish versus polishing
If the item is tarnished brown - polish will take forever.
There are many variations of using a mixture of white vinegar & salt + other ingredients to remove the heavy tarnish easily https://www.countryliving.com/home-main ... ean-brass/
For maintenance & polishing there are two products that I use Flitz (less expensive) & Simichrome (best)

Some polished brass was sprayed with a coat of lacquer to preserve the shine, but, overtime, this lacquer dulls and darkens. Until this old lacquer is removed, any polishing you do will be to the surface of the lacquer until you polish through it to the underlying brass, at which time the brass will begin to shine. This is very time consuming. Better to remove the lacquer with lacquer thinner before attempting to polish the brass. Jim Patrick

PS. I have found that Meguiar’s rubbing compound makes a fine metal polish.

I'm in with the Simichrome crowd, nothing else would touch my radiator shround.

I use Autosol. It is a paste, like toothpaste. As such it is much more controllable than liquid polishes. It is cheaper in the larger cans.

Allan from down under.

I also like Blue magic.

I despise the new Brasso. It's not the Brasso we used when I was in the army. I agree that if your brass has been lacquered, you have to remove the lacquer with thinner before you polish. Like Frank, "I differentiate between removing tarnish versus polishing." I find CLR excellent for removing tarnish. But it will slowly attack brass over time, so don't let it soak long term.

I've tried most of the polishes recommended on the forum over the years, and I've settled on Mothers. It works well, is widely available, and costs a lot less than many of the other polishes. After polishing, I apply Nufinish hoping to delay the return of tarnish. I don't use lacquer. I don't like the look, and it's a pain to remove when you have to polish again.

If you spill any antifreeze on your brass, wipe it off immediately. It doesn't just make tarnished spots. It eats brass.

Hi Neal,
How corroded are you talking about? If it's green or brown I use Zepp calcium, rust & lime remover. buy at Home Depot & Lowes. Small parts can be soaked, larger can be wiped with a soaked rag. Use gloves, eye protection & use in a well ventilated area. I have used it to clean brass firetruck parts for years. keep an eye on it it can turn brass dark if left to long. Works good for cleaning radiators, engine & head cooling passages also.
Craig.

I have also used the soaking method on extremely tarnished brass with good results. My chemical of choice is white vinegar. It does give brass a copper look until final polish and I may have read somewhere that repeated use might not be good. Only needed to do it once now just keep them shined up. Works for me! Your mileage may vary.

"Brass" is an alloy, or a fairly narrow range of alloys. Using an acidic product may cause issues by reason of the acid eating one or more of the components of the alloy faster than others. I think this may explain why some types of cleaners, like soldering paste, can make brass turn copper-colored. I'd use any such cleaner sparingly and limit the time of exposure.

Craig Leach wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 15, 2022 1:46 am

How corroded are you talking about?

Craig,

here are the door sill pieces as an example. The other brass pieces are dull and brownish looking, but not corroded as bad.

Hi Neal,
Pat is correct about exposure. I used Zepp because it is stronger than vinegar. If you use vinegar try the commercial grade it's more like 30% -35%. Many of the polishes are acidic, I like to wash & wax after polishing.
Craig.

Someone may have already posted about this brass cleaner. Brite Boy metal polish is one that I have found is by far the easiest to use on heavily tarnished brass. I got a gallon of it at the janitor supply store. It does not give the deep lustre that we get from the other polishes like Mothers Billet or Blue Lustre or Flitz and other high dollar ones But it works much easier on dark brass and then I do a second time with one of those which is very easy on the clean and bright brass. I
Brite Boy by Carroll Olde Tyme Products Garland Tx 800-527-5722 carrollco.com

I have a 1912 hack with all the brass that goes with a 12. About 15 years ago I made a terrible mistake by taking it on our club tour that was based on Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. We toured for a week and about three days after I returned home I lifted the cover to find the worst case of brass corrosion I have ever seen. I was able to hand polish everything except the radiator back to the original luster. I could not make the radiator look good. With the help of a friend, I took the radiator off the car and we used his 12 inch buffer and buffing rouge. We had to be careful and kept our movements in sync but the result was we had the radiator back to a fine finish. In retrospect, I could have saved a lot of time and effort by buffing the large items like the lights and gas generator. Just a thought !

SALT DESTROYS ALL!

Easiest way found for me to remove the very old brass tarnish is ketchup

Really works, slime it on, rub with a rag and the tarnish is gone. Clean well in soap and water rinse, then go on to polish using your favorite product.

And I love ketchup on certain things...but wonder what it's doing to "our pipes"!!

Immerse in 50/50 Coke a Cola and Amonia for 24 hrs. Work down tough corrosion with appropriate grit wet emery paper, finishing up @ #1000 grit. Bench buff with high luster rouge (green). Finish up with Wenol hand polish. Take assembled brass apart for aggressive cleaning.
SR

This stuff... It's not polish. As the name suggests, it's a tarnish remover and it is also just about as "instant" as it gets! Awesome stuff!!! Follow up with polish of your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... NrPXRydWU=

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:58 am

This stuff... It's not polish. As the name suggests, it's a tarnish remover and it is also just about as "instant" as it gets! Awesome stuff!!! Follow up with polish of your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... NrPXRydWU=

Capture.JPG

I would use it. But for those that don't read instructions: Instantly removes heavy tarnish without rubbing. ... Just spray & rinse. Product will continue to work on the surface until rinsed. You MUST rinse the surface with water after application and neutralize the formula to prevent and encroachment on the surface itself. After the surface is cleaned you must follow up with a polish or wax to keep it from quickly re-tarnishing.
--
--
The diluted ingredient is Urea Monohydro-Chloride

TRDxB2 wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 1:54 pm

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:58 am

This stuff... It's not polish. As the name suggests, it's a tarnish remover and it is also just about as "instant" as it gets! Awesome stuff!!! Follow up with polish of your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... NrPXRydWU=

Capture.JPG

I would use it. But for those that don't read instructions: Instantly removes heavy tarnish without rubbing. ... Just spray & rinse. Product will continue to work on the surface until rinsed. You MUST rinse the surface with water after application and neutralize the formula to prevent and encroachment on the surface itself. After the surface is cleaned you must follow up with a polish or wax to keep it from quickly re-tarnishing.
--
--
The diluted ingredient is Urea Monohydro-Chloride

Yes Frank. You should always read the directions.

To polish our 1912 to do that it take's about a day .
And I don't like to do that often.
One time a model T-friend told me he has some thing to spray it on .

We both use that for four years ago now .After we drove in rain and snow several times, it looks still good.
Just a little darker as after polishing .

You can take it off with Aceton if needed
The spray is sold by: HG a Dutch company .
Toon

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:58 am

This stuff... It's not polish. As the name suggests, it's a tarnish remover and it is also just about as "instant" as it gets! Awesome stuff!!! Follow up with polish of your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... NrPXRydWU=

Capture.JPG

Hi Jerry, I can’t seem to find anyone who actually has this stuff on the shelf in Canada or in NY state. It must have nasty stuff in it. Easy to buy online but nowhere on a store shelf (?)

... I can’t seem to find anyone who actually has this stuff on the shelf in Canada or in NY state.

I expect you can find CLR, also a fast tarnish remover. It too should be rinsed off before polishing, for the same reason.

Thanks Steve! I can get CLR anywhere! I didn’t know it worked on really tarnished brass!

Darren J Wallace wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 30, 2022 10:10 am

Jerry VanOoteghem wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 16, 2022 11:58 am

This stuff... It's not polish. As the name suggests, it's a tarnish remover and it is also just about as "instant" as it gets! Awesome stuff!!! Follow up with polish of your choice.

https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-BC-01806-I ... NrPXRydWU=

Capture.JPG

Hi Jerry, I can’t seem to find anyone who actually has this stuff on the shelf in Canada or in NY state. It must have nasty stuff in it. Easy to buy online but nowhere on a store shelf (?)

Darren,

I have not seen it on the shelf here in Michigan either. I ordered a gallon of it on-line.

Darren J Wallace wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:07 am

Thanks Steve! I can get CLR anywhere! I didn’t know it worked on really tarnished brass!

Test a small spot first. My memory may be, (read as "is"), faulty, but I seem to recall CLR turning my brass purple.

I use Captain Richard's Bombs Away and am very satisfied. Inquire via a Google search.

What is the best polish to use for brass after cleaning with Flitz?

Once you polish your parts, you can preserve the shine with Mohawk Lacquer spray. It goes on great and, unlike most protective sprays, dries crystal clear with no fogging. Try it and you will never use anything else. Jim Patrick

Whenever I have used my buffing wheel for polishing, I have always used the red jeweler’s rouge buffing compound block. The red jeweler’s rouge is used specifically for softer precious metals such as gold, silver and brass for attaining the highest possible scratch free shine. The green block polishing compound, while a high luster compound, is more for harder surfaces such as chrome and stainless steel. Jim Patrick.

As a guy who 50 odd years ago learned that could sit on the floor with his can of Brasso and a rag and have unlimited hours to 'rub on/rub off' until the yellow metal shined like the sun...when I bought the 15 in 1995 the chore right off went to my then 12 y/o son!

I recently picked up a double barreled Bridgeport pump and someone said try FLITZ...which I had never heard of.

Spray on...holy cow where did the gunk go? THAT fast! Wash it off, hand dry it, then hit it with Flitz polish where it immediately comes up to a glow with a slightest hint of blue to make the item warm to the eye. Where were you 50 years ago Flitz? ....life would have been so much easier, but I'd probably have spent the same amount of time working my jump boots to make them look even more like Corfam .

I used the spray Flitz, was done with both headlights and radiator in 20 minutes.

Our 2022 OCF brass polishing assembly line:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/iqglpejyiq495 ... F.mov?dl=0