Jewelry

[freakygirl]

does anyone here know how to clean brass jewelry? i have a heavily tarnished collar choker. i tried warm
water and soap, but it stayed the same.

[Kachina624]

A silver polishing cloth such as a Sunshine Cloth might clean it.  If that fails, I'd try the product available at grocery stores called Brasso.  I hope your necklace isn't coated with a lacquer, in which case it will be impossible to polish to a condition where it would be suitable for wear. 

[freakygirl]

Kachina624, thanx for that information. it does have a protective lacquer. does that mean the cloth or brasso won't be good enough? 

[sunshine45]

i know it sounds crazy, but have you tried using ketchup to clean brass? robert lee morris used to recommend this all the time when he featured jewelry that had three different metals......copper, brass, and silver. some say to use organic ketchup, but regular ketchup, a soft brush, and a cleaning cloth have worked for me. let the ketchup sit on your piece for at least an hour.

[freakygirl]

Sunshine45, i actually read about that today! since you tried it and it worked for you, i will definitely try it tomorrow. i sure hope it works because i really like that choker. thanks so much! i'll let you know how it turns out.  

[sunshine45]

you are welcome @freakygirl!

hope it works out for you. if not and you cannot get it cleaned the way you want to, try going to a fine jeweler who may be able to do it for you.....at a cost, of course.

[Kachina624]

When something has a lacquer finish, the lacquer wears away unevenly so when you polish it some areas may accept polishing while others are still protected by the lacquer and will not polish.  The only thing you can do is have a jeweler remove the lacquer.  Then you're left with an unprotected piece which will tarnish very fast.... a matter of hours on me.  You can never polish it yourself to its original condition once it tarnishes; it would have to be done on a wheel using polishing compounds. 

This is why I don't buy brass. 

[freakygirl]

Kachina624, ugh, that's so unfortunate. live and learn. your reply was much appreciated. 

[freakygirl]

good morning Sunshine45! good news! the catsup worked in removing all the tarnishing. applied it, let it sit for less than an hour, then brushed and rinsed. bad news- it left a white film all over the choker. it looks pretty bad. i must've done something wrong. i have to find a way to polish it. 😕

[sunshine45]

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@freakygirl wrote:

good morning Sunshine45! good news! the catsup worked in removing all the tarnishing. applied it, let it sit for less than an hour, then brushed and rinsed. bad news- it left a white film all over the choker. it looks pretty bad. i must've done something wrong. i have to find a way to polish it. 😕

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@freakygirl

glad you got the tarnishing off......it really does work well for that, especially if you dont let the tarnishing get too bad.

on the other hand, sorry that you have a white film......have never seen that happen before. have you googled to see if anyone else has had a problem like that?

there are lots of brass cleaning cloths. i have heard the sunshine polishing cloth is a great choice. hope you get it looking good again! let me know how it goes.