Brass

Samantha de van Geer <sam.vandegeer [at] oxfordshire__gov__uk>
writes

>I am wondering if anyone can advise me on the more appropriate
>conservation materials for cleaning Social History post-18th century
>brass.  We have prelim, brasso, biox, Solvol Autosol and Rubin Brite
>in our conservation cupboards.  I know that Prelim is safe to use
>but is not effective on very badly tarnished and corroded surfaces.
>Can anyone advice me whether any of the other materials we have are
>appropriate and whether there is anything which we should be using
>that I have not listed. I would also like to know if there are any
>up to date articles out there on this matter.

In India, we use a fine dry powder consisting of wood ash or coal
ash for cleaning brass. We also use a solution made from the
tamarind fruit as a very effective cleaner.


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 22:52
                 Distributed: Thursday, March 12, 2009
                       Message Id: cdl-22-52-003
                                  ***