Thanks for teaching me a new trick also.

It will now tarnish even faster as you have opened up any protective surface layer. You might want to find a polish that you can apply to slow the tarnish. There are some that suggest nonabrasive carwax for everything but others use other types of waxes.

I love YouTube. I've learned how to do so many things from there.

I love it! I just learned something too. It never ceases to amaze me what ‘how to’s’ can be googled and found on the internet.

Maybe the solution, maifleur, is to lightly rub the now-cleaned brass with a small amount of Brasso to give it a waxed coating?

There's such a thing as a brass polishing shop? Do they do something else as well?

The only brass I can think of in this house is in hinges and over-door transom hardware-- all the inside door hinges, the front door hinges (but not the knobs and locks), and the piano hinge on a medicine cabinet. Oh, wait, I think two of the old windows have brass pulls on them. I like how all this darkened brass looks just fine, so have no reason to change them.

Renaissance Wax is formulated to protect metal and is used in antique restoration and museum conservation. It's what most of the jewelry makers I know use to protect the finishes and patinas on their creations.

Hubby would polish his drum cymbals with ketchup!

I'd always get the urge for french fries after he was done LOL

Yes Mathias Lang there are brass polishing shops. Most of the ones I know are actually music stores where musicians take their horns to be shinned up.

Years ago I inherited a brass bed from my aunt. She loved polishing that thing. The first thing we did was get it coated so that I didn't have to bother cleaning it all the time.

I have an antique brass bed and we had it professionally polished and lacquered about 40 years ago. It still looks terrific.

My local brass polishing shop also does metal plating. The take apart and polish and lacquer old solid brass chandeliers, polish brass fire fenders, andirons and fireplace tools, and have a big business polishing church brass crosses and huge alter candlesticks. It’s a great place - they can do anything.

I’m big on keeping household hardware polished. I have solid brass door knobs in this old house, and my late husband and I took off a few each year and had them polished and lacquered. Hinges were not solid brass and had been painted over repeatedly- replaced them with high quality brass plated. All my window pulls a solid polished brass - locks are white which is what Marvin installs.

In the spring, I will have them come and remove my front door lock/latch and take it and polish and lacquered well as door knocker, and brass threshold. Painter will then come and do some repair to the 71 year old door and repaint it, then brass guy will return and reinstall all the hardware. I replaced the kickplate with one from Baldwin that never tarnishes.

i like my metals shining, be they silver, copper or brass. That was one of the first things I noticed on my first trip to London many decades ago - every front door had gleaming polished brass hardware.

I called the antique shop owners husband to ask how his late wife polished antique brass that she sold. Vinegar - just what I used. He said one can wax it but when it next needs polish, it will be far harder to clean. She was a very prominent dealer, selling lots of things to high end NYC decorators - her mother was in the business before her. I trust she knew what was appropriate to use. Brasso has ammonia in it - harder on the metal.

I've started using Bar Keepers Friend on my brass objects and they got nice and clean and shiny after just "washing" them with it...no need for scrubbing except maybe on a few bad spots. Best of all, it doesn't leave a residue in the creases and corners like Brasso does.

Yes, Bar Keepers Friend is is a wonderful product. I understand it now comes in a liquid form instead of the old powder in a shaker can (sort of like Ajax), but haven't tried it yet. Yardman uses it for my copper.

I'm enjoying looking at my brass wine cooler. It was polished just the right amount - no tarnish, some shine, but not highly polished. Just perfect for an antique.