As a 90s baby, I never expected to see brass come back into style. But I have to admit, I can appreciate a dash of brass in the form of shelf styling trinkets and bookends or even kitchen cabinet knobs and bathroom fixtures. The good quality stuff (not the cheap 90s interior doorknob stuff) is actually very beautiful if you ask me.
But, like many fancy things, they can be persnickety. Brass tarnishes just like copper, silver, and gold. I have a few brass items and had been reading up on how to clean them and remove tarnish without buying a fume-y chemical cocktail. And I'm happy to report that I have found the BEST and probably cheapest way to safely clean brass (and copper, too!).
You ready for this? The answer is: ketchup!
Yes, the french fry condiment. You literally just smear ketchup all over the object you want to clean, let it sit for 5-10 minutes, and gently wash the item clean with a non-scratch sponge and a drop of dish soap. Don't believe me? I have photo evidence 😉 Check out this brass plate of mine.
Before you judge me too harshly, just know it was given to me like this! It was filthy. Honestly, I didn't even know if it was brass.
Here's how much ketchup I applied:
Ta-da! The finished product!
I only had to scrub a little bit over the area that had the dark stain you see in the before photo. The rest literally rinsed clean with no effort.
And here are some before and after photos of some other brass trinkets I polished up. What a difference! (Fun fact: these were given to me by a family friend who traveled to Iraq many decades ago).
I don't have any copper, but I read that this works equally as well on copper. If y'all have any copper items, I'd love to hear how well this worked for you! Just leave me a comment 🙂 You can also subscribe below to be notified of new posts so you never miss a thing!
Do you have any go-to cleaning tricks? I'm always looking for tools to add to my arsenal.
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