Abacus
Antique Dealers: Top Tips For Antique Collectors
Brass
is a very popular choice for collection among those
who collect antiques, from horse brasses to miniature
teapots; it is a very diverse metal and a beautiful
one when bright and shiny. Brass however does tarnish
quite easily and cleaning is of the utmost importance
if you want to keep it like new, but there is cleaning
and then there is, cleaning, when it comes to brass.
Over
cleaning or going about it with too much enthusiasm
can quite quickly destroy a beautiful antique and
reduce its value considerably. Some of the most beautiful
brass pieces rely heavily on their fine engravings
delicately etched into the surface and rough abrasive
materials can destroy this in the blink of an eye.
Brass
has a patina which is very distinguishable and rough
cleaning or using the wrong type of cleaning can also
destroy this patina over time.
Brass is made up of copper and zinc, the patina in
the brass will vary depending on the proportion of
materials that are used in the particular piece.
While
the colour is usually a lovely golden yellow over
time and exposure to the air this can turn into a
brownish, greenish colour, some people like this tarnish
and believe it gives the brass some character and
beauty while others head for the cleaning materials
immediately so this is only a matter of personal preference.
It
is very important when acquiring a new piece of brass
that you determine if the piece is solid brass or
is brass plated, if it brass plated then over time
the brass plating can reveal the metal beneath which
of course is very unsightly and also undesirable to
collectors.
The
easiest way to determine if your item is made from
brass plating is to take a small magnet and gently
place in on the side of the item, if the magnet sticks
to the piece then it is brass plated, if it doesn’t
then your item is solid brass. Determine this before
you start cleaning as cleaning of course can break
down the brass plating.
If
your brass is simply dirty then cleaning using nothing
more than soapy hot water and a child’s toothbrush
is recommended, this can be used very gently even
on those pieces that have fine etchings and decoration.
If the piece id only lightly tarnished then a silver
polishing cloth can be used to remove the tarnish.
If however there is severe tarnishing then a brass
and copper polish should be used to gently remove
the tarnish and restore the original beauty.
Whenever
you are cleaning brassware it is essential that you
dry the piece thoroughly after washing, making sure
that great care is taken to remove any cleaning materials
that you have used. Residue from cleaning materials
can cause pitting of the brass and this should be
avoided at all costs as it distracts from the beauty
of the antique.
When
done correctly a piece of cleaned brass wont need
touching again for several years if it is handled
correctly, you should avoid touching the actual item
and instead use a cloth to hold and the place the
item into place, touching it will only start the tarnishing
process over again. The only thing you should need
to do on a regular basis is to give the piece a quick
dust over to ensure that its shine remains.
