the easy way to clean copper
Posted on | June 17, 2009 | 3 Comments
i grew up cleaning enormous piles of old copper, with rags dipped in smelly brasso that blackened everything they came into contact with, and dried your hands out horribly.
there was a lull for a couple of decades when i moved out of my parent’s place (and they got the whole lot lacquered at last) and i vowed to keep far away from anything that looked like copper verdigris.
of course, the lovely pinky orangey glow of copper is impossible to resist and somehow over the years, i’ve managed to amass my fair share of the benighted stuff and i’ve got the brasso-blackened rags under the sink, and the strained shoulder muscles, to show for it.
i had a blinding brainwave as i was cleaning some silver cutlery this week.
why not try the copper in the same solution?
it worked FABULOUSLY and i am so excited about it that i have to share.
take a heavy duty plastic container (not metal or glass), large enough so you can immerse your chosen copper objects completely.
put a big piece of aluminium foil in the bottom.
now add enough boiling water to fill the container or cover your copper stuff, plus approx 1 tsp washing soda per cup of water.
this is a very rough amount.
this will fizz a bit….stir the soda to help it dissolve.
NOW
immerse your copper pieces …or silver….one at a time and watch, with your mouth open in amazement, as the tarnish just FALLS OFF.
it really is incredible!
take your copper out, wash it in warm soapy water, dry and polish with a nice dry soft cloth.
that;s it.
no elbow grease, no brasso, no drama.
just piles of warmly shiny copper.
note: washing soda is not baking soda.
it’s a white granular substance, also known as sodium carbonate, that you’ll find in the laundry section at the supermarket.
it’s good for all sorts of cleaning jobs, not just copper.
Comments
3 Responses to “the easy way to clean copper”
Leave a Reply
June 22nd, 2009 @ 2:54 PM
Hi Patti
I haven’t tried it with copper, but did with silver, using bicarb soda (not washing, but just the bicarbonate soda) and it works just as well. Cheers!
June 22nd, 2009 @ 3:06 PM
france….try it with the washing soda on your silver AND copper…it works beautifully and will not damage the silver/copper.
even my brass stuff looks better….
how did bicarb and alfoil work for you?
June 23rd, 2009 @ 1:17 PM
This sounds great! I have always been too scared to buy copper due to the cleaning aspect.
And thanks for visiting my blog too!