You can clean, refinish antique brass
Q. The antique bathroom fixtures work well, but the old ornate brass is tarnished. I would prefer to restore rather than replace them. How do I refinish them so they do not tarnish once they are cleaned?
A. Those ornate antique brass fixtures are probably very beautiful, but difficult, if not impossible, to match with replacements. Many of those old brass plumbing fixtures were made by craftsmen and were truly unique. If you are unable to clean one of them, you will likely have to replace all the fixtures in that bathroom so they match.
All is not lost though because the tarnish can be cleaned off the old brass and they can look almost like new. It takes a lot of work, but it will be worth it. If you finish the surface properly and maintain them, they should look good for many years. Someday, though, they will begin to tarnish again and you will probably have to repeat the cleaning procedure.
Before you tackle this job yourself, contact a local professional refinisher and get a quote on having the tarnish removed. Professionals use durable commercial-quality acrylic urethanes or baked on finishes which are not available to do-it-yourselfers. It usually takes a couple of weeks, so you will be without the use of that bathroom.
If you have trouble finding a local brass refinisher, you can send your brass fixtures to the following companies: Art Brass Plating, (800) 828-3186; Carlisle & Finch Co., (513) 681-6080; McBuffer's, (800) 975-8654; and The Shine Shop, (877) 759-3087.
You will have to remove the fixtures from the sink to refinish them thoroughly. First, make sure the water supply line valves can be shut off. Old ones can stick. You may have the same problem getting the old fasteners loose to release the fixture. If they are frozen on, soak them with a penetrating oil and give it some time to work. You definitely don't want to harm the old fixtures.
While you have the fixtures removed, it would be wise to replace the washers inside them. Always turn the handles to open the faucet before unscrewing the valve cups to get to the washers. The pitch on the internal and external thread are different. If the valve is tightly closed and you unscrew the cup, it can split open the fixture.
The best method to remove the tarnish is with a buffing and a polishing wheel on a two-wheel bench grinder. Apply abrasive polishing rouge on the polishing wheel. This should cut through the old clear-coat finish over the brass. Use a small detail polisher to get into the tight spots on the ornate areas.
The fixture should look pretty good at this point, but the surface is actually covered with fine scratches. Apply some very fine buffing compound on the buffing wheel and buff out the fine scratches. Take your time on this step and some areas may require hand buffing.
When it is completely buffed, clean off all the compound with a solvent. Wear rubber or plastic gloves at this point to keep the solvent off your skin and to keep oils from your skin from getting on the newly buffed brass surface. Hang the fixtures from a bent coat hanger in a well-ventilated clean area and spray on several coats of clear gloss urethane.
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