MTFCA Forum

Came across this video about polishing the brass on a Stanley steam car. Thought there was some interesting tips.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W7ZmK3xIcqQ

I too use Mothers & have for decades, However if the surface is not so good, FLITZ does a better job bringing it back & out of all of them that I have tried since 1978 or so ....SIMICHROME actually gives the best shine. Mothers is just a lot easier to use, when you don't wan t to spend a bunch of time on it.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thr ... ed.614419/

My only brass polishing tip…….Don’t!

He actually, if you watched the video , recommends bar keepers liquid you can buy at home depot. He used simichrome as well which does a great job. But, maybe its good to try the liquid bar keepers just to see how well it performs.

Thanks Mike!

Interesting video, using power tools. Neat if you are doing mass polishing!

For real dull tarnished parts have used the ketchup trick, it works to remove stubborn brown tarnish!

But for brass windshield for the '12 project, the brown tarnish was removed really fast, by hand, applying about 2 coats. Bit more on some spots, but impressed by this stuff!

A couple of observations based on the time I have spent polishing my '09 and other brass-era stuff...

I concur with others that Brasso is lame. Semichrome & Flitz are much better products to use based on my experiences. With that said, what I have noticed when polishing my brass cars is that I can make it shiny by polishing it with the Semichrome or Flitz, but generally by the end of the week of a tour, it has dulled again. Not necessarily tarnished but dulled. What I have learned in discussing this with my Chrome Shop is to make (y)our efforts last, the Brass generally needs to be sealed after a Polish. Look for two-part system that has a soft metal Polish and a Sealer wax.

Also, making sure the Polish has been fully removed is a huge step to having a longer lasting shine and a brighter finish. There are several brands of these metal Cleaners that seem to work well. What you do is finish your polishing, and then use a Cleaner which will absorb all the greasy black residue left over from the polishing process. As that Cleaner dries, it absorbs that black residue. When the Cleaner is dried, it kinda looks like fine Talcum powder that has absorbed the residue. I wipe the surface clean with Terrytowels and then apply a metal Sealer for soft metals (i.e. Brass, Copper, Aluminum, etc.). The Cleaners & Sealers are used by the show truck (18 wheeler) guys on their polished aluminum wheels, tanks, etc.

As for the video, in some ways the job that he was doing on the Stanley probably would not have satisfied me, ...but in fairness, I did not hire him and secondly I don't know what his customer was willing to pay for. What I saw in the reflection of the (polished) headlight was a lot of scratches and markings remaining even after he had polished it. To have gleaming brass, those would need to be removed. Using cotton gloves or a low-torque air tool like he was showing won't effectively or efficiently remove scratches because it cannot generate enough heat to smear the metal. So, based on what I saw, those lamps needed to be machine buffed first. On those, I probably would have started by using either a Brown or White Rouge on a spiral buff followed by a flannel buff with Green Rouge. THEN follow up with the Semichrome/Flitz/etc. and apply the Cleaner and then finish with the Sealer. Likely he could have done the entire job quicker if he would have first used Rouge to work the Brass followed by the method he used and had much more favorable results.

I purchased some of Jay Leno‘s metal polish. I’m really impressed. It’s really easy to work with and it seems to keep the brass from tarnishing quite well.

Thanks Brent, that is a helpful summary on the process,

Brent what cleaner and sealer do you use?

Russ T Fender wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 01, 2025 4:40 pm

Brent what cleaner and sealer do you use?

I have used several and I honestly don't know if there is much of a difference between them. I initially used one by White Diamond, but have used the Chemical Guys, and a couple others. Right now, I am using a product from CJs (-linked below) only because they offered a bundle deal on one of those popup Facebook ads, and so I ordered it to give it a try. Seems to work well, but I also try to stay on top of my brass on this 1909 before & after every tour simply because there is so much of it and it takes too much time when it gets nasty.

FWIW, I have also tried using some Meguiars Hybrid Ceramic Coating wax on some brass lamps & such that are displayed in a curio cabinet in my office. I polished them first with Flitz and followed with the Meguiars. Too early to tell if that has any improvement to holding a shine longer in a climate controlled room. The reason I thought I would try using it is when you look at the labels on many of the metal polishes or sealers, they claim they can also be used on painted surfaces and plastics. What's good for the Goose is good for .....!

https://cjsmasterformula.com/product/2- ... -shipping/

Thanks. I had my ‘10 in Florida on the east coast and the salt air killed my brass. I have never been able to get it back so I am always looking for something new to try.

Russ T Fender wrote: ↑

Sat Aug 02, 2025 8:13 pm

Thanks. I had my ‘10 in Florida on the east coast and the salt air killed my brass. I have never been able to get it back so I am always looking for something new to try.

While I am not an expert at this, my thoughts from afar is that you are going to find yourself using White Rouge and machine buff (-not a Polisher) to get the Brass back to its full lustre. Using a pad on a Drill or low-torque polisher always seemed to waste time and never gave me the results I was looking for.

That is what I wound up doing but there are still spots that refuse to buff out and it seems like it does not last. That’s why I was interested in what you use to seal the brass. I think in spots it’s almost as if it is an impurity in the brass that has come out.

For heavily tarnished brass, use Bar Keepers Friend and then follow-up with your favorite polish. It works extremely fast, even if the brass is brown. Wear nitrile or rubber gloves when using it.

It's inexpensive and available in powder or liquid and you can find it a Walmart and, if you are in the midwest, Menards. However, my opinion is that the powder works better than the liquid.

It's also fantastic for polishing chrome and cleaning stainless steel. If there is rust blossoming through the chrome, it will remove the rust.