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Cleaning Up Vintage Brass

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scrub Daddy. All opinions are 100% mine.

I get giddy like a schoolgirl over a good piece of vintage brass. I already have more pieces of it than I can use in my own house, but with starting the pop-up shops, I’ve gained just one more excuse to be on the hunt for it. As if I needed an excuse, anyway. 😉

Rarely do I ever find a piece of vintage brass that is clean and shiny. Buying those pieces does mean more work for me to clean them up, but it’s really not too bad at all. Even if a piece hasn’t been cleaned up in the past decade and is sporting a few rust spots, I can typically have an average piece of brass cleaned up in 10 minutes or less.

Cleaning Up Vintage Brass | Learn how to clean brass in under ten minutes to make it look like new again.

When I clean up brass, I tend to go for a Scrub Mommy, which is part of the Scrub Daddy family – American’s Favorite Sponge. I’m just waiting on them to release brothers and sisters too. 😉

Cleaning Up Vintage Brass | Learn how to clean brass in under ten minutes to make it look like new again.

All Scrub Daddy products are scratch free, which is a must for brass, but a Scrub Mommy is different in that it is two-sided. On one side is the traditional unique FlexTexture®, which is firm in cold water and soft in warm water, and on the other side is a soft sponge. I load up the sponge side with brass polish and go about cleaning up the brass. If there are any rust spots on the brass, I flip the Scrub Mommy and use the FlexTexture® side on those spots, which easily powers through them.

Cleaning Up Vintage Brass | Learn how to clean brass in under ten minutes to make it look like new again.

The built-in eyes and mouth are good for getting awkward places on the pieces as well.

Cleaning Up Vintage Brass | Learn how to clean brass in under ten minutes to make it look like new again.

The gunk, so to speak, and other particles picked up stays in the Scrub Daddy, but will also easily rinse out when you’re ready. And when you rinse it out, the odors go with it too.

After cleaning the brass, I rinse it off with water and dry it immediately. Don’t let any water sit on it – as that will just leave you with water spots.

You can find Scrub Mommy at All Major Retailers. Also, be sure to visit the Scrub Daddy Facebook page for more cleaning ideas with Scrub Daddy and special offers!

Happy vintage brass cleaning! 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Lisa says

    My mother-in-law just gave me my first Scrub Daddy…loving it! Cleans really well and I love the smiling face. It’s cheesy to say, but it really makes cleaning less daunting. Great product!

    Reply

  3. Shirley says

    Jenna We don’t have Scrub Mommies or Daddies in England. I thought you had made some fabulous cookies!
    Good Luck with your pop up shops.

    Reply

  4. Samantha says

    Ooh I totally need those pineapple candle holders for my powder room that I am making over! Can you have a pop up shop down here in Texas please? ????

    Reply

  6. Bonnie Schafer says

    Hi Jenna – I love this post. Not only because I love the Scrub Daddy products, but I also love to polish things, brass, silver, chrome. I never thought of using my Scrub Mommy! I have a question for you. Do you think there is a demand for polishing things for people, thinking additional income stream? I’m a VA and a really bored one at that, so I’m thinking that if people have metals that need shined, I wonder if they’d pay someone to do it? I’m not sure I want to buy and sell, but maybe do it for people. I’d love your thoughts. Thanks, and thanks for the Scrub Mommy tip!
    ~ Bonnie

    Reply

    • Jenna says

      Hi Bonnie! Ya know, I’m not sure. Polishing stuff certainly isn’t one of my most favorite things to do! I think it would be about finding the right market for this. Some people never worry with polishing their silver and brass and some like it polished, but hate to do it. Might be worth doing a little advertising for! You never know!

      Reply

    • Lisa B. says

      I pay to have my silver pieces polished in NYC! It’s worth it to me, and I know how popular silver is in VA. I’m sure there is a way to research prices online and make money doing it. Some mom and pop jewelry stores still do metal polishing, you might ask them how much they would charge to polish a teapot, and go from there.

      Reply

  8. Julie says

    I’ve not heard of scrub mummies or daddies, I don’t think we have them in the UK yet but I’ll certainly keep an eye out for them. I think they look so sweet and if they clean things up half as well as you are saying they have to be worth a try.

    Reply

  9. sherry says

    I will give this a try. I tried ketchup, that was a mistake, it’s two different tones now.

    Reply

  10. Beverly says

    Thanks for sharing your tips on cleaning vintage brass with us at Snickerdoodle. I’ve got a few pieces that could use it. I haven’t heard of Scrub Daddy, but I’ll be on the look out for it now.

    Reply

  12. Bridget Haig says

    Thanks for the great information, do you know if this works for vintage silver too, I have several family pieces and one is a serving spoon that’s over 100 years old.

    Reply

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