Skip to main content

How to clean tarnished brass candlesticks, naturally!

I bought these cute wee candle stick holders at the local markets on Sunday - all 3 for $5! I was happy! They looked like they were probably brass but it was hard to tell as they were totally green. I figured that they were either the real deal and I had got a real deal... or they were some cheap and nasty thing and I had bought my self a set of three green tarnished cheap candle sticks.  I thought I'd have a go at polishing them up and see what happened.


Here's what I did... First I used a magnet to see if they were solid brass or brass covered steel. The magnet will not stick to solid brass and WILL stick to brass coated steel. If you use this method on brass coated steel you will probably remove the tarnish AND the brass and be left with an uncoated steel object -  you might not want that!



These ones seemed to be solid brass as the magnet wouldn't stick in the slightest...
Then I pulled them apart (the stick unscrewed from the base) and soaked them in a 50/50 white vinegar and water mix for about 20 minutes.


Depending on how precious the item is - scrub off the tarnish with a pot scrubber and an old toothbrush or maybe a cloth if it is something precious or expensive. I found the tarnish came off quite easily on the large area with a cheap green plastic pot scrubby thing.


For some of the harder to get at area's like the edges and the dips in the bases I soaked it a bit longer and used a toothbrush and a bread and butter knife to scrape away at the tarnish - remember if your item is something precious, this may not be the way to go!


I cleaned up two and then photographed them for comparison - what do you think??


I thought they came up quite well!


As these weren't anything precious or expensive, I wasn't too worried if they got scratched or marked. If you are cleaning up a family heirloom, it may pay to have a chat to a specialist before you dive in with the vinegar and a scrubbing brush! When you have finished getting all the tarnish off, give them a good soak and rinse in fresh water to get all the vinegar off and to stop any reactions so that your brass is not eaten by the acid in the vinegar.

I'm enjoying the candle light and the ease as to which they can be moved around.Most of my candles are in glass holders and once you have lit the candle they are hard to move as they get hot. These ones with the built in handles are great - I have seen them in nursery rhyme books and movies but never possessed one myself! Its fun!

In the week since I have cleaned them up, they have dulled a little. I suspect they need to be "oiled" or varnished to retain the gleam. I have a friend with brass taps in her bathroom and I know that she cleans them with furniture polish each week to keep them shiny. She said that they came with a laquar on them and as it wears off with use, she needs to keep the polish on them to keep the tarnish at bay. The ones in the guest bathroom don't tarnish so quickly as they are not used so much she tells me.

So maybe I need to have a look at oils to put on them to keep them shiny... or maybe I let them gently tarnish up a bit. Certainly the worn and used look would go much better with my worn and faded decor than bright and shiny would!

Score card:
Green-ness: 5/5 for buying second hand and refurbishing with items in the kitchen cupbourds
Frugal-ness: 5/5 for getting a bain and for buying second hand!
Time cost: Not the fastest thing you will ever do - especially if you want to get every last scrap of green off the item. Maybe an hour to do all three.
Skill level: Just soaking and scrubbing - maybe detailing if you are so inclined!
Fun -ness: Great fun to see them all shiny and filled with burning candles!

Comments

africanaussie said…
those came up beautifully - good job!
Practical Frog said…
I'm soooooo pleased with them!Thank you! - K xx
Share great information about your blog , That’s what I was looking for. I am talking about all topics bundled in this blog. Blog really helpful for me. Thanks for share your blog here.
Bond cleaning
End of lease cleaning
End of lease cleaning Sydney
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular posts from this blog

Killing cockroaches with boric acid v borax!

We live in Queensland. We have cockroaches. Lots of cockroaches! Why the NSW rugby team is called the Cockroaches is a mystery to me - surely ours are not only bigger but more plentiful??? At any rate, I don't like living with them (and I'm quite sure they  are not so fond of me at the moment!!) and I have been going through the usual gauntlet of sprays, solutions and bombs to get rid of them... But I'm not so keen on the chemical aspect of all this spraying and bombing. I hate the smell and can almost feel disease and cancer growing in me every time I spray. I'm OK with the resident cockies getting a lungful of chemicals and then keeling over but I feel its impolite (and probably illegal) if my guests and family members do the same thing!!! We went through a faze of killing them by hand (and flyswatter and rolled up newspaper and underfoot) but its hard and frustrating work and it probably was only culling the dumb and slow ones - leaving the smart fast ones to bre

Easy to make fabric covers for milk crates!

Like most households, milk crates appear in and about our house as they are the right size to sit on, strong enough to stand on and the right shape to store things in. They are usually free or picked up for a dollar or two at garage sales or at dump/tip shops. They come in red and blue in our area (depending on weather they are originally from Paul's or Dairy Farmers!) and that simply doesn't go with my outdoor decor - neither does the plastic look but that's another issue. Something had to be done. I decided to cover them with material that fitted in with the rest of our current outdoor setting - A quick look on the Internet for inspiration and confidence and... The finished product being modelled by the cat! Here's what I did... I started with the standard Brissy Blue and Red Milk Crates... Then I bought a sheet and a couple of pillow cases from the local Footprints Op Shop This is less a pattern and more a method to follow - Cut the sheet i

What to do when your cat attacks a bird... and doesn't kill it.

We have an eight year old cat who we got as a stray about six years ago. The vet reckoned she was about two when we got her and we did all the right things and got her spayed and vaccinated and all that stuff. She loves people and no matter where you are in the house or garden, she will not be far away. She really good with kids and will put up with the squishiest cuddles and a far bit of toddler tail fascination before bolting out the door to escape. She is well fed (despite the look she is giving me and the empty bowl below...) but not fat - but still the  urge to hunt and subsequently kill still seems to be quite strong. Last weekend, she pounced out of nowhere on a rainbow lorrikeet - thankfully my husband and a band of teenage boys were also there and managed to grab the bird before the cat had done more than pounce. Now we have a slightly mangled still alive but obviously unwell bird on our hands - what do you do? Here's what we did... We found a box - popped an old