<p>Today on the Happy Garden list, one of our list members, Nanette, mentioned a way to polish brass she learned from her husband. After she had been working on some brass handles for a while here husband told her a tip he'd learned in the Navy. Soak them in KoolAid. She tried it and it worked like a charm.
I just finished cleaning a very large brass candlestick (5 feet tall) that unscrews into sections. I soaked the pieces in the kitchen sink with 4 packages of KoolAid for two hours (I'd imagine you could use 1 package for smaller items but this was a lot of brass). It saved me a lot of rubbing, polishing and brass polish. The only drawback I can find is that it turned my hands red (stained by the dye) so it would be best to wear rubber gloves. Also, wash the pieces with soap and water before soaking so they will be free of dirt and grease. For stubborn spots, use a little very fine 00 steel wool.
It is supposed to work on silver also. I haven't had time to test it though.
I used the KoolAid straight from the package. It was the old style kind. The kind which you need to add sugar to drink. I doubt if the sugar would add or detract to the process except to make it much stickier. I'd leave the sugar out and just pour the KoolAid powder into the water. About 1 pkg. per gallon of water would work.
Yes, it would be best to pick a color that won't stain so badly. My hands have come clean by this morning and are no longer red. I wanted to try it and red colors were the only ones I had on hand.
I've used other things and there is usually a smell associated with cleaning brass, even with natural products. I didn't notice the smell using KoolAid, it just smelled fruity. - Susan
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