John,

I used to work in a kitchen as a pot washer. The chef made a mixture of
salt, vinegar, and flour to clean the copper pots. The recipe went as
follows: Take a bottle of vinegar, dissolve as much salt in it as you can
(leave a teaspoon undissolved at the bottom is fine), at flour to thicken
it make a paste to taste <g>. Just spread the stuff on copper and you can
see it brighten immediately. I used to wait about five minutes then wash it
off. The color of copper with this stuff is a little redder than the
commercial products but there are no abrasives,  its fast, and cheap. You
could try it on brass I never had the need to see what it would do.


>
>I am looking for good guidance in preserving brass and copper on 1800s
>steam locomotives.  I am worried because the brass is in excellent
>condition and I don't want to damage it.  Current procedure uses an
>industrial cleaner, but I wonder if it is stripping the brass away.
>
>Thank you
>John Hunter
>Curator
>Kennesaw Civil War Museum
>"Home of the General"
>
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