All copper alloys develop a crust made of oxide and carbonate, called patina, when exposed to the air. Brass is no exception. After all, brass sheets, tubes, and bars contain about 67 percent copper, which is the primary reactant during patina formation. Fortunately, brass develops patina more slowly than copper and its other alloys, making it easier to polish.

Brass comes in over 60 different types, most of which are lustrous. You’ll know patina is already forming when brass starts losing its sheen. Then, it will turn duller and darker until the patina becomes apparent. The good news is that patina is only superficial and can diminish when scrubbed off with metal polish.

What’s in metal polish?

You may be wondering what substances there are in the metal polish that allow it to dissolve tarnish or patina. As it turns out, there’s more than a handful. The quality of commercial metal polish products may vary from brand to brand, but they all have the same mixture. These are the substances they have in common.

• Ammonia
• Silica
• Thiourea
• Denatured Alcohol
• Acids
• Petroleum Distillates and Naphtha

All of these substances are corrosive. When combined, they become the ultimate tarnish remover. But commercial metal polish is not the only product that can clean brass. Familiar products like vinegar are also excellent at cleaning metal.

What makes vinegar an excellent metal polish?

Many people use vinegar for cleaning home furniture and fixtures. They use it to disinfect wooden cupboards or give their metal frames and trims extra shine. But what makes cleaning brass with vinegar possible? Why do tough stains come off faster when soaked in vinegar than when washed with bleach? The answer lies in its chemical composition.

Vinegar is produced through fermentation. In this process, bacteria break down sugar into alcohol, the same method used for making wine. But that’s just the first level of fermentation. There’s another level in which alcohol is further catalyzed into acetic acid, the chemical that makes up vinegar. The main reason vinegar is an effective cleaning agent is that it’s an acid. And like other acids, it can corrode a wide array of substances, including patina on brass.

Things to Remember before You Clean Brass with Vinegar

While vinegar may not seem that harsh, as proven by how mild it feels when applied on the skin, don’t underestimate its ability to corrode substances on metals. It’s important to note that there are several ways to ferment organic extracts. Meaning, vinegar may also come in different types. Some are more potent than others.

Before you start rubbing your brass item with vinegar, find out how it was produced. The ideal vinegar for cleaning is the one that’s made in a lab—acetic acid mixed with water. Also known as white vinegar, this type is more potent than those produced from fruit extracts. If the vinegar seems too strong for your brass item, dilute it in water. If that doesn’t work, then consider going for a mild type like cider vinegar.

Keep in mind that vinegar dissolves not just the patina or stains on your brass surface. You may not notice it, but it can dissolve brass itself, depending on its potency. So, when you polish brass with vinegar, be careful not to scrub or buff too hard. You don’t want to damage the surface of your brass item, especially if it’s just a cladding to a different material.

How to Clean Brass with Vinegar

You can choose to clean your brass items with vinegar alone. But you can also mix it with other household products. It has been proven many times that homemade metal polish is relatively as effective as its commercial counterparts. The only difference is you will have to put some effort into making the metal polish. Here’s how to make homemade metal polish with vinegar and how to use it.

1. Prepare your vinegar and equal parts of salt and flour. You can also use corn starch or baking soda if you don’t have flour. Mix these three ingredients to form a paste. If you don’t have vinegar, pure lemon juice is a good alternative.

2. Clean your brass item thoroughly. Wash it with soap and water to remove oils and dirt that might get in the way of your homemade metal polish.

3. Make sure the surface of your brass item is parched. Moisture can reduce your metal polish’s effect.

4. When you’re ready, apply the paste on the surface of your brass item and let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes. That should be long enough for the vinegar to break down the tarnish on your item and for the salt and flour to extricate it.

5. Wipe away as much paste from the surface of your brass item as possible using a clean cloth. Then, start buffing until the metal’s untarnished surface reemerges.

Restoring your brass furniture or fixture shouldn’t be a stressful task. If you know how to make homemade metal polish, you’ll find cleaning brass with vinegar fun and productive. There’s nothing more fulfilling than to see your antique possessions come to life again.

In case you are looking to make furniture, and you want its luster to last for a long time, find trusted brass suppliers like Rotax Metals. They provide high-quality copper materials and they supply to large enterprises across North America.

Bronze is not a typical interior design element. You don’t see a lot of it in both residential and commercial buildings. That’s most likely because there are only a few furnishing styles where bronze furniture or fixtures could fit well, and they are not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s quite hard to find colors that go well with bronze, too.

History tells us a different story, though. Many of our ancestors didn’t incorporate bronze in their home’s interior design because they think it radiates a fancy and antique feel. After all, there was a period when bronze items signified grandeur and sophistication, which only suits a certain class of people. They still do today, but innovation has clearly caught up.

How to Use Bronze in Your Interior Design

While you may not see a lot of bronze in the typical middle class and modern homes, it’s making an unprecedented comeback in luxury homes. Then again, you can design any building with bronze. All you need is a little creativity to make it work. Here are some ideas you might find interesting.

Chandelier

– Bronze makes a fantastic material for your chandelier’s arms, stems, and bowls. Its color is not too bright and shiny—just enough to maintain the contrast that defines the beads. You don’t want your chandelier to be too glaring. Bronze can give it a tantalizing bedazzlement you won’t get in a brass-stemmed chandelier.

Bathroom Faucet and Sink

– If you want to give your bathroom a rustic appeal, consider combining wood and stucco, complemented by a bronze lavatory and dimmable lighting. Your antique-looking faucet and sink channel a classic Mediterranean bathroom style your guests will love.

Bathtub

– Indulge yourself in a relaxing hot bath with salts and bubbles in a luxury bronze tub. Unlike a stone or marble tub, a bronze tub retains heat longer. If you’re worried that it might rust, don’t be. Bronze is a non-ferrous metal. It won’t rust like steel or iron. Instead, you’ll notice its color transform into an elegant green that elevates its appeal.

Stairs

– A bronze spiral staircase can add a twist to your home’s multi-story interior. With its natural reddish-brown hue, it doesn’t need further coating. Don’t worry if it seems incompatible with your furnishings. The fact that it’s bronze gives it a license to be a focal point. After all, who wouldn’t want such a bizarre structural element to be easily recognizable?

Chairs

– Modern home interiors typically come with metallic features. Chairs and tables with bronze frames suit well with a minimalistic design. Because bronze is naturally tough, you can make small and thin frames that offer more visual space. The color also matches a variety of themes.

Colors That Go with Bronze

Bronze’s color is naturally eye-catching. It’s hard to integrate it into the whole interior design. But you can do something to prevent it from looking awkwardly out of place. Large items from a bathtub or big vase can quickly become an eyesore if you fail to put the right backdrop. Here are some of the colors that go well with bronze.

Cool and Calm Tones

– Bronze has a rich and earthy hue that is tiresome to the eyes. When you stare at it for too long, you might feel your senses a little revved up. Therefore, the best colors to pair it with are the cool and calm ones like the hazy-day or stormy sky tones. You can also choose a bright-colored backdrop but see to it that you will accentuate the surroundings with elements that have mid-tone hues.

Warm but Subtle

– Earthy colors are warm to the eyes. While the general rule is to pick a cool color that can balance out the warmth, you can still go for other warm colors but make sure they are faint compared to bronze. As much as possible, use the same pallet. The colors that belong to the bronze family include caramel, coral, peach, and iced frappe.

Neutral

– When in doubt, choose a neutral color. That will pretty much do the trick. But don’t just settle for white or black. There’s an entire spectrum of white shades that you can choose from, and many of them could make a much better backdrop for your bronze items than pure white.

How to Make Bronze Items Fit Existing Interior Designs

Some homeowners don’t find bronze’s original shade appealing. They think it ruins their home’s overall aesthetics. They don’t want to change their interior’s color theme to make the bronze item fit either. If you are in the same situation and need something dark to complement your furnishings, you can still opt for bronze but you should force its patina to form.

It takes many years for the patina to form, but you can force the beautiful dark tone to come out within minutes with the right treatment. Many bronze sculptors use ferric nitrate to alter the shade and tinge of their work. If you don’t like to use this substance and prefer products you are familiar with, you can use lemon extract, vinegar, or cold brew black coffee. They have an almost similar effect.

Are you thinking of making bronze furniture or fixtures? Then get your raw materials from a reputable supplier like Rotax Metals. Only buy bronze bars and sheets from a supplier that specializes in copper alloys. Using high-quality materials allows you to produce high-quality output.