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I have tried EVERYTHING to clean old tarnish and most of the products were just loaded with mineral spirits & other toxic agents. It was making me sick, and my fingertips were inflamed.
The fact is, removing old tarnish can be tough. One local antiques dealer recommended thick, blue toilet bowl cleaner. This sounded so utterly bizarre and repulsive that I couldn't resist. It works incredibly well at a fraction of the price of toney polishes and 5 times as quickly.
Just fill up a big bowl, dunk the piece in for a few minutes, and scrub it with a bristle brush under running water. This works great on brass especially when the tarnish is really tough to remove.
It took me weeks to find the magic, all-purpose remedy that is non-toxic, inexpensive, and just pure alchemy when it comes to removing tarnish.
Table salt and lemon juice. It's that simple. Fill a bowl with a hefty amount of table salt and then add lemon juice to make a thick paste. On brass, I use a wire brush that I found at the shoemaker's for suede shoes.
Don't do that with copper; the metal is too soft and it'll scratch. Use a microfiber cloth, instead.
There's an important lesson here for those who love copper pots. If the first rule of good salesmanship is to display those expensive items with a gleam and a Twinkle, then it's a good bet those exquisite copper pots have been polished daily to maintain that tarnish-free glow.
In the end, all it takes are four inexpensive, easy to find things to keep your brass and your copper looking great. For brass, try the toilet bowl cleaner. It works! Scour with lemon juice/salt paste and use a wire bristle brush.
As for copper: Do yourself a favor. Don't even bother to ask what it's been cleaned with. Just stock up on table salt and lemon juice before feeding the family or impressing the guests.
Sound, HEALTHY advice from twinkie's toolbox.
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