How do I polish old brass instruments to look good again?

Question

Have old brass saxophone want to clean up a bit any tips.

Answer 1

Brasso (and other abrasive polishes) will strip the lacquer off your horn. If the lacquer is all gone then brasso will work but it will tarnish again rather quickly. It's also really hard to get the paste out of the cracks and crannies and it tastes really bad.

CLR or other liquids (Tarnex) will run onto your pads and into the posts and totally destroy them. If you must, be very careful.

If there is lacquer still on the horn then use a lacquer polish from your music store.

If the lacquer is gone - get a polishing cloth from your local music store and use that cloth to take care of some tarnish but don't bother attempting to get a "high shine" except maybe on the inside of the bell. Many players play on horns that are stripped and have no lacquer left and swear that the sound is better. I played a Selmer Paris bari in the Army that had no lacquer on it at all and it was the sweetest bari I ever had the pleasure of playing.

Remember, it doesn't have to look good - it has to play good. ☺

Answer 2

Hardware or marine suppliers may have something called (Neverdull)
It is cloth batting soaked in some kind of cleaning solution.
Not abrasive & does a good job if the metal is not badly corroded.
Also does not leave the residue mentioned.
Clean w/ hot water & detergent before any polishing.
For the bits around valves & links you can roll the neverdull into "strings " & work it into tight places like dental floss.
If you use polish like brasso, you can moisten yarn to clean the tight spots & also get out the residue.
Silver polish can also be used alone or as a follow up to brass cleaner for a finer finish .
Have used them all depending on the piece & when power buffing was not an option..
This is strange , but as a final protective coating ,try Alberto
VO5 hair dressing & buffing w/ a soft cloth.
It gets off any fine residue & apparently works by keeping air from the metal surface.
Best regards

Answer 3

Brasso is very good but is difficult to get the dry residue out of tight places.I would go with Eagle One Never Dull.It's found at the grocery store or hardware. It's a wadding type material and you pull off as much as you want and rub it over the instrument. It doesn't film up and the same piece can be put back in the can and reused until it turns black. I paid $4.98 and it will last a lung time. It is good for most metals.

Answer 4

How Do You Polish Brass

Answer 5

As a drummer, I use Brasso to polish cymbals. It's all I've ever used.

Kabum

Answer 6

First try CLR to clean and then use Brasso to polish .
Both are available at Wal Mart.

Answer 7

Try a product called Brasso. I know it sounds funny but it does work. Yes it is a real product that you can find at almost any grocery store in the cleaning aisle.

Answer 8

Maas brand metal polish.....Home centers have it. Works great on every metal I've needed to polish...

Answer 9

Try toothpaste.