Brass utensils are still popular around the world. And for good reason! This is the material that best represents the charm of the kitchens of yesteryear… provided of course that the items are well maintained. So, if you are a brass fan, you might be wondering what’s the best homemade tricks to clean your brass items and keep them shiny.  

Don’t worry, we got your back. In this article, we’ll show you 19 simple, but effective, tips to clean brass objects and restore them to their original luster and shine!

1. Using baking soda

Do you have a nice set of brass utensils in your kitchen, but over time, the latter has tarnished and no longer shines at all? No problem: rather than buying special products in-store that are supposed to restore brass to its original shine, don’t move and stay in your kitchen! Indeed, you probably already have in your pantry 100% natural and very effective products to make brass objects shine. For example? Well, baking soda (also very useful for absorbing odors from the fridge, cleaning the walls of the oven, removing tartar from the tap) and lemon: a real winning duo to remove dirty spots from your utensils, especially brass objects.

• In a bowl, mix the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon with a few teaspoons of baking soda.
• Dip a soft cloth in this mixture and then rub your brass objects softly but thoroughly
• Finally, then rinse the object with fresh water
• Dry everything well with a clean, soft cloth.

Shiny effect guaranteed! Your brass objects will regain all their original beauty.

2. Using white vinegar and salt

If you want to make all the brass objects in your home shine again without spending a dime on so-called miraculous commercial products, above all, stay in your kitchen; this piece still contains healthy and natural products that will allow you to effectively clean and shine your brass items without breaking the bank.

Among these products, we find white vinegar, THE king of economical cleaning and salt.

Besides being cheap, white vinegar is also ecological, not at all dangerous for the planet, unlike many household products, which are packed with harmful chemicals and pollutants. Combined with salt, you will not find a more natural solution.

• Start by soaking a cleaning towel in vinegar (put about 60 ml) and sprinkle a little kitchen salt on it (a tablespoon will be more than enough).
• Take the towel and rub the dull places of your brass objects with it.
• Then rinse thoroughly with water before thoroughly cleaning the whole. Mission accomplished!

3. Using lemon juice

To revive the shine of brass objects tarnished by time, you can also rely on another winning duo made up of foods that are inevitably already in your kitchen and that we have already mentioned above: salt, and lemon!

To do this, it’s simple: all you need to do is take a lemon from your fruit basket, cut it in half, sprinkle the pulp with salt, and use one-half of the lemon as a scrubbing pad. Rub the dull areas of your brass objects: the acidity of the lemon and the abrasive power of the salt will immediately take effect. Then rinse with clean water, dry with a soft cloth.

Note: to avoid waste, you can use half of the remaining lemon to clean your taps, your oven door, or even your induction hobs. Yes, just like white vinegar and baking soda, lemon is a product that allows you to clean almost everything in the house!

4. Using ketchup… yes ketchup

If you have a multitude of brass objects in your home to shine but no baking soda, white vinegar, or lemon on hand, no problem! But still don’t leave your kitchen: indeed, head to your fridge, open it, and take out… a bottle of ketchup! Believe it or not ketchup, besides working wonders in burgers and fries, is quite capable of bringing back the shine of brass items.

• Take a brass object and apply a little ketchup to the tarnished or stained surfaces.
• Leave on for a few minutes.
• Then rub fairly vigorously with a non-abrasive sponge.
• Rinse with clean water and dry with a cloth.

Tada: your brass is now resplendent. The trick is simple: Even though they look very sweet with their bright red color, tomatoes, like lemon, are actually very sour thanks to the citric acid they contain.

5. Give your brass a white vinegar bath

If you have brass items and utensils that, in addition to being tarnished by time and losing their shine, are covered in unsightly stains, don’t worry, you can still bring them back to life by using kitchen ingredients. Indeed, no matter how bad they look, there is still hope to bring the shine back to your brass items.  

As we’ve mentioned above, white vinegar is the cleanser par excellence in your kitchen, except this time you’ll give your items a total bath.

1. In a big container, pour very hot water and add half a liter of white vinegar to it.
2. Put on oven mitts, then place your stained brass items into the container. Make sure that the objects are well submerged.
3. Wait a few minutes.
4. Then take a non-abrasive sponge, sprinkle it with a bit of coarse salt, and then gently rub the brass objects where they are stained with it.
5. Return the objects to the container for about 10 minutes and rub again if the stains are not gone.
6. Rinse with clean water, wipe dry, and admire the results!

6. Using sorrel leaves

Another natural trick for cleaning brass is the use of sorrel leaves… Yes yes, you read sorrel leaves correctly. For this natural trick you must:

• Place about 4 pounds of sorrel leaves in a some water.
• Boil the water for about 1 hour.
• Then place your brass object in the water (the water must be still hot)
• Leave the brass object in the water for 2 hours.
• Rinse, clean and dry the copper to finish.

You’ll be amazed at the results.

7. Using Soapy Water

Soapy water can be a good solution for cleaning brass items. It’s hard to get a simpler cleaning trick than soapy water isn’t it.

To do this, just take a brush and a little soapy water and rub the brass object. Then rinse and simply let the item dry. Then you simply rub the item with a soft, dry cloth once the object is dry to give it a complete shine.

If you want to be a bit fancy, you can opt for black soap. A great classic of ecological and economical cleaning, black soap has more than one trick up its sleeve… especially when it comes to cleaning brass objects! To do this, dilute a little black soap in a container of hot water, then dip a sponge in it; rub your brass object before rinsing it with clear water, and then let it dry.

Your item will be as shiny as new.

8. The sun to the rescue

For those who don’t feel like rubbing, another solution is to simply expose copper objects to the sun on sunny days. This will restore them to their full shine in a few hours. As the day progresses, turn the objects on different sides so that all surfaces are exposed to the sun. You can finish by buffing them with a clean cloth.

9. Using Onions

Did you know that onions can be a very effective and quick way to make brass objects shine? Whether it is a brass tray, a brass saucepan, or other types of objects, onions can be the miraculous solution you’re looking for. To do this, you must:

• Cut an onion in half.
• Add salt to one of the onion pieces.
• Then rub the brass object and repeat if necessary.
• Rinse the object to remove traces of the onion but also the smell.

For a very dirty brass object, you may need to use several onion wedges to complete the cleaning.

10. Coca-Cola to remove sticky dirt

If your beautiful brass utensils have nasty oxidation stains, dip a clean cloth in a glass of coke and then clean the critical areas of your brass pieces before rinsing them and then drying them with a soft cloth.

Coke is particularly effective in cleaning brass due to the phosphoric acid it contains. Indeed, the phosphoric acid contained in coke acts on the buildup of dirt on your brass objects and dissolves it, leaving the brass clean and shiny.

11. Soda crystals for a deep clean

Brass is a very pretty material but unfortunately requires a lot of care and maintenance to remains bright and shiny. As brass often oxidizes quickly, it is important to know an effective home remedy to quickly eliminate the oxidation of brass in order to restore its shine. This remedy might just be soda crystals.

• Bring 2 liters of water to a boil.
• Add 4 tablespoons of soda crystals.
• Immerse the oxidized brass object that you want to clean.
• Leave it in for several minutes to clean thoroughly.
• Dry with a soft cloth, for example a microfiber cloth.

Your item will regain its shine and keep it for a long time.

12. Make use of your old newspapers

If you don’t have cleaning supplies on hand, you should know that a simple sheet of newspaper crumpled into a ball can be used to clean dirty and tarnished brass objects. Could not be more economical!

13. Using red wine and chicory

After the soda crystal bath, know that a heated red wine and chicory powder bath is also very effective in getting rid of oxidation stains on decorative brass objects. Leave them to soak in the mixture for a few minutes, then rinse and dry!

14. Using a cabbage leaf

Unbelievable? Yet cabbage is great for effectively shining brass and all kinds of metals! Take a green leaf and simply rub your objects gently.