by Carmel Brulez

Created on: November 01, 2009

You can clean your brass and copper the green way. It is a lot cheaper than being the expensive products that manufacturers constantly advertise, you also should not need to go to the shop to buy it as most of the ingredients are kept in our kitchens and used on a daily basis in the home. It is a good idea to keep your brass and copper cleaned regularly so that there is no nasty build up or discolouration which is difficult to put right years down the line. By cleaning it maybe once every six months or so you can keep it looking lovely. The quickest and most organised way is to decide to clean all of the brass and copper at the same time, twice a year is good once a year is maybe going to be sufficient.

You need some large old newspapers or kitchen towels which you put onto the table you will be using then you place the items to be cleaned on top. The cleaning might produce quite a mess. When you have finished cleaning your items you can just throw away the newspapers that kept the table from getting wet or dirty.You also need some very clean dry cloths and it would be a good idea to have a toothbrush or a small brush of similar size, maybe a small brush as used for painting a skirting board, it can be just an ordinary cheap one, it might be a good idea to have a small brush you keep handy especially for this, for if you are going to be cleaning anything fiddly which needs you to get into holes or tiny areas, such as around a handle. Some brass and copper ornaments have some very fiddly bits which need to be dealt with.

Start by thoroughly cleaning the item in soapy water. Dry. Now use one of the following

Tomato ketchup

Lemon juice

White vinegar and salt to a good paste

Flour, salt, white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda mixed to a good thick paste

Toothpaste which may be too thick if not mixed with some water

If any items are particularly dirty, especially if they have not been cleaned for a long time, you can rub the areas with the mix and leave to soak in and work on that area while you work on another area or item.

When the item is clean it needs to be thoroughly washed in water with some ordinary washing up liquid to remove liquids, dirty and smell.

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