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Author Topic: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat  (Read 3570 times)

Klunk

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Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« on: September 19, 2016, 05:51:14 am »

Right this billings progress I have been given.
It has a lot of brass attachments on it. Df loop, stanchions, brass winch etc
I have taken off the brass winch and aide net haulers and dropped them on coke for 34 hrs and they came up really nice and shiney.  The next step is all the smaller attachments in brass. I really don't want to remove them front the boat. Any ideas in how to clean them in situ.  I thought a dremel with a polishing head on but that took ages to do one stanchion as I don't want to use too much pressure.
Any ideas?
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bfgstew

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2016, 10:52:14 am »

Put a little dab of good old brown sauce on them with a small detail paint prush and leave for an hour. Before  you do test on a scrap piece first to determine length of time!
Good luck
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Crossie

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2016, 03:39:37 pm »

          Klunk, I don't know if you have ever heard of Bath Power or Kitchen Power, it is a citrus based Australian cleaning product,  not widely available in the UK, but it is very, very good at removing the oxide layer and especially limescale  when cleaning stainless/ brass/ copper. I recently bought a box of it from Wilco as the major supermarkets no longer stock it they probably don't make enough profit on it, sellers are listed on Amazon. I use it a lot in my workshop on old motorcycle parts - it works.

            Trevor
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malcolmfrary

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2016, 08:10:06 am »

The mention of citrus based cleaners reminded me that a great many cleaning advice pages recommend using an actual lemon for metal items in kitchens and bathrooms, presumably for the citric acid in the juice.  Just what you do with the deposit of copper and zinc citrates after the acid has done its job I'm not sure.  It's probably the secret ingredient in the brown sauce mentioned earlier.
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meechingman

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #4 on: September 20, 2016, 09:08:23 am »

Ketchup works just as well as brown sauce. Cleaned up my propellers a treat. I only left them dunked in for 15-20 minutes and then thoroughly rinsed them. Quite how you would rinse stanchions in situ is another matter!  :-)
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roycv

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2016, 09:31:15 am »

Hi Klunk, hope to be seeing you at the weekend! 
When desperate, fine quality wire wool works.  It does leave minute scratches but this would make a good key for a spray of varnish to keep the air from the brass,
regards Roy
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john44

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #6 on: September 20, 2016, 09:33:17 am »

Well that's put me of ketchup & brown sauce as a food (sorce) {-)


John
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roycv

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #7 on: September 20, 2016, 09:36:15 am »

Hi it's the tamarind in the sauce that does it!
Roy
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Klunk

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #8 on: September 20, 2016, 10:18:57 am »

i have tamarind sauce!!!
will try all 4 items and report back
ps Roy, i will be bringing this boat to the show.......no licking it!
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Martin (Admin)

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2016, 10:32:20 am »


Brasso?!
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Crossie

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2016, 11:05:13 am »


Brasso?!


     Oh-oh!! Brasso's a No-no!! The liquid blackens in use and it dries leaving a powdery residue in any tiny crevice, from memories of polishing military kit. The citrus based cleaners just use water with a small amount of Bicarb.of soda/baking powder in it ( the alkali quickly neutralises the acidity). I put mine in a perfume spray type bottle to give a good fine spray just where needed, though water on parts of a boat is not exactly a problem liquid!

  Trevor
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meechingman

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2016, 12:13:42 pm »

Clean first, rinse, thoroughly dry, then polish with Brasso and rub down with a cloth to get a perfect(ish!) shine.
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RAAArtyGunner

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2016, 12:19:29 pm »

     Oh-oh!! Brasso's a No-no!! The liquid blackens in use and it dries leaving a powdery residue in any tiny crevice, from memories of polishing military kit. The citrus based cleaners just use water with a small amount of Bicarb.of soda/baking powder in it ( the alkali quickly neutralises the acidity). I put mine in a perfume spray type bottle to give a good fine spray just where needed, though water on parts of a boat is not exactly a problem liquid!

  Trevor

To get rid of the Brasso from crevices, such as a badge, use a brush to remove the Brasso and then polish the badge, Viola
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Crossie

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2016, 03:57:21 pm »


 oh yes I remember all the old toothbrush and sharpened matchsticks tricks of many a Bull Night or perhaps being on 'jankers' and all those hours wasted doing utterly useless Brasso rubbing of urinal pipes along with cap badges, buckles and buttons! That's why for me Brasso is a biggie NO-NO, there are now much easier and quicker ways to clean metals, I'm not that hungry for nostalgia!

              Trevor
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RAAArtyGunner

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2016, 11:08:29 pm »

Too true but the badges dazzled when the sun hit them. O0 O0

Downside, over time the detail wore off, hence introduction of gilded badges which didn't require polishing. :-)) :-)).

Back on thread, position the boat upside down, then any cleaning fluid will not run and collect on deck/superstructure.
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Nemo

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2016, 09:43:42 pm »

Too true but the badges dazzled when the sun hit them. O0 O0

Downside, over time the detail wore off, hence introduction of gilded badges which didn't require polishing. :-)) :-)).

Back on thread, position the boat upside down, then any cleaning fluid will not run and collect on deck/superstructure.

Called 'Staybrite' in the UK, they were introduced in 1960 when I was in training - what a blessing!
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RAAArtyGunner

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Re: Cleaning old brass attached to a boat
« Reply #16 on: September 24, 2016, 09:10:06 am »

Yes they were also called "Staybrite" here.

Current versions are "plastic" with silver, gold, etc "staybrite" finishes.

Did the cleaning happen, if so, what method???
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