Polishing brass

So I'm polishing a large piece of brass uh, tubing. Yeah tubing. I can get a shine that I'm happy with using Brasso, but it tarnishes the moment its touched. Any ideas to keep it shiny?

Don't touch it?

no, its made to be touched, a lot.

OK, now that the immediate smart-ass response is out of me...

Wear gloves. Rubber, cotton, etc. It's the oils in your skin that's causing the instant tarnish.

Brasso has oxalic acid as a component, which needs to be neutralized to prevent tarnishing. Try baking soda diluted in water, spray on and wipe thoroughly dry to remove residue.

Never dull

I had to polish brass a lot when I was in the Marines. I would clean it with Brasso and then wash it in warm soapy water. I would then polish it dry without rinseing it off. The soap film couldn't be seen and it would go weeks without tarnishing.

I always thought a vertically mounted brass "tube" got buffed/polished by the environment it was used in.

Don49 wrote: I had to polish brass a lot when I was in the Marines. I would clean it with Brasso and then wash it in warm soapy water. I would then polish it dry without rinseing it off. The soap film couldn't be seen and it would go weeks without tarnishing.

This sounds like a good start, thanks

Rob_Mopar wrote: I always thought a vertically mounted brass "tube" got buffed/polished by the environment it was used in.

Yeah, I thought so too but.....

EastCoastMojo wrote: Brasso has oxalic acid as a component, which needs to be neutralized to prevent tarnishing. Try baking soda diluted in water, spray on and wipe thoroughly dry to remove residue.

I'll try this too. I have several sections to work with.

RealMiniDriver wrote: OK, now that the immediate smart-ass response is out of me... Wear gloves. Rubber, cotton, etc. It's the oils in your skin that's causing the instant tarnish.

that would sort of defeat the purpose

What about a coat of wax (or a couple) after the brass is polished, before the tube is put back into service?

Well, are you gonna show us a picture of this here stripper pole, or what?

EastCoastMojo wrote: Well, are you gonna show us a picture of this here stripper pole while in use, or what?

FTFY

http://store.123greetings.com/ahi-stripper-pole.html?utm_source=gmc&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=september12&gclid=CPe5-fGU5rMCFQvznAodq2EAqg

That one could do with a bit o' polishin'.

Rob_Mopar wrote: What about a coat of wax (or a couple) after the brass is polished, before the tube is put back into service?

This was my first thought.

Rob_Mopar wrote: What about a coat of wax (or a couple) after the brass is polished, before the tube is put back into service?

This was my first thought.

Don49 wrote: I had to polish brass a lot when I was in the Marines. I would clean it with Brasso and then wash it in warm soapy water. I would then polish it dry without rinseing it off. The soap film couldn't be seen and it would go weeks without tarnishing.

I remember having to polish the brass on the outdoor concrete wash slab like behind this recruit with Brasso. That sucked... Alot.

So much tube polishing and no mention of a knob.

Your probably polishing it too much. When I do that, the doc says, "Use Vasoline and don't play with it for a week."

EastCoastMojo wrote: Well, are you gonna show us a picture of this here stripper pole, or what?

Ask and ye shall receive!

Multi-piece for easy removal and storage. The ceiling fan hangs there when the pole isn't in use. Bought it when throwing a thank you party for all my friends who helped me re-build my house. The dancers found it very stable and its mounted on bearings so it spins too.

Figured I'd put it up for festivus

Nice - perfect for Festivus!

EastCoastMojo wrote: That one could do with a bit o' polishin'.

I thought that's what she was doing, along with a load test.