Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
-----
How can I tarnish or dull bright brass
Q. How can I tarnish, or make bright brass dull. We recently installed some doors in our home, they came with bright brass plates and knobs. We hate the shininess, and at the very least want to get rid of that. We'd like to darken the color too, if we can.
Carrie Rice- Nordland, Washington
1998
Q. I have a similar question - How can I dull the finish on a polished brass chandelier? It is electric, so I don't want to submerge it in water, and was hoping for some solution that I could 'rub' or 'paint' on to dull the very shiny finish and darken it a little.
Heather Dash- Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
2004
A. Hi Heather. People can be envisioning rather different things when they say they want to dull the brass, but since you mentioned "rub", there are wax rubs (
⇦this on
eBay or
Amazon [affil links]
) with different tints available.
Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Q. I would also like to hear the answer to the question "How do you tarnish brass?". I am refinishing an antique desk that is missing one knob. We found a matching knob at our local lumber yard but it is shiny brass. We would like to make it look like the same age as the others. I hope you can help. Thanks, Jim
Jim Eggers- Fairchilds, Texas
2005
A. Hi Jim. liver of sulfur ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] will darken brass (if what you are looking at is actually brass, but it's not always easy to tell).
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
2005
A. toilet bowl cleaner
⇦this on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil links]
Leave it on for a week and it'll turn it nice and dark
Conversely it'll shine your metal right up if you wipe it on and then right off.
Wear rubber gloves
⇦this on
eBay or
Amazon [affil links] (it has acid -- I believe hydrochloric).
I use it to age bronze cymbals. It not only changes how they look, but mellows the tone for jazz and acoustic music.
Fulltone Recording - Corvallis, Oregon, USA
2007
Q. I have a light fixture, fireplace doors and bathroom shower doors that have a bright brass finish. I know the light fixture and fireplace doors are actually brass but I am unsure of the shower door metal. I would like to change the finish of each to a antique or dark finish. Do you know what products to use?
Sheryl Wolfhomeowner - Kildeer, Illinois, USA
April 4, 2008
A. You need to make sure it is real brass and not just stay brite over top of some other metal. If it is brass then there is probably a light layer of film over it that stops the brass from tarnishing. Take off the brass fixtures and rub them on a carpet with a generally heavy amount of force. Then try shining it up with Brasso ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] metal polish. if the cloth with Brasso turns black, you should have taken the film off. General use will now tarnish the brass. The oils in your hands help speed along the process too.
James Merritt- Charlotte, North Carolina
December 9, 2008
A. Hi Sheryl. Unless the shower doors were very expensive (say over $1000), they're not brass; they are anodized aluminum, and can't be darkened except by coating the aluminum with paint, or something opaque or only slightly translucent. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 2014
How to turn brass from bright to a dull gray
Q. What is the easiest way I can treat shiny brass or bronze to turn the finish to a dull grey ? They are already installed on cotton fabric for a historical presentation.
Michael Wagner- Baltimore, Maryland
A. Hi Michael. Well, the easiest way is paint. But the most authentic looking way is probably to "tin" them. We have several letters on line about historical tinning of copper pots and pans. Use those words in the google custom search engine. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 2014
Brass tarnishing solutions won't dull my fishing lures as desired
Q. I am a fisherman with a preference to using tarnished brass spinners. I have only five left and the newer spinners I do have refuse to tarnish. They are nickel with a very thin brass plate. Some of the chemical treatments I've tried have either taken of the brass plate entirely, or produced no visible effect. I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me. Thank you.
Donald, 10th Grade, 16 years old
student - Olympia, Washington, USA
March 28, 2009
A. Hi, Donald. The bad news is it's probably not brass plating; it's probably a brass-toned lacquer over nickel plating -- which is why the color disappeared when you used certain solvents that dissolved the lacquer. Imitation brass plating is cheaper and more environmentally acceptable than brass plating, so it's getting quite common, but it's obviously a big problem when you want it to act like real brass and it won't.
I would suggest that you try an antique Rub n Buff ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] and see how the color looks and how long it lasts. Happy fishing.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 3, 2009
How to dull the bright brass snaps on jacket?
Q. I bought a new jacket and it has really bright brass snaps. Any thoughts on how I can dull these?
jcrew.com/womens_category/outerwear/cotton/PRDOVR~19034/19034.jsp
- Norwich, Vermont
September 10, 2014
Q. I have a handbag with the buckle super yellow with the Letters GG. I want the buckle to look more brassy dirty than extremely yellow. Help!
Kimberly valdez- Irving ,Texas
April 2, 2018
A. Hi Kimberly. If the buckle is solid brass you can remove the lacquer coating on it and then use liver of sulfur ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or brass darkening solutions ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] (or just let it tarnish naturally). If it's a real Gucci, the buckle might be brass. But if it's anodized aluminum, those solutions won't do anything -- and the thing is, consumers will rarely know what something is actually made of. But brass is heavy and aluminum is light, maybe you can tell from the weight? If it's aluminum you are probably limited to getting some tinting dye to add to lacquer or polyurethane before brushing it on. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 2018
Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread