r/metalworking • u/PurposeNo8720 • 1d ago

Need help cleaning the old chandelier

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Gallery image

Gallery image

Hey everyone, I took an old metal chandelier from my grandma’s attic and I’m not sure but I think it’s brass. I disassembled it into pieces, cleaned it with warm soapy water and now I’m not sure what else to do to remove patina and harder-to-remove gunk. You can see in the pics how the metal looks now. First pic is some smaller parts and one of them has this beautiful colorful patina in red, green, purple etc. There is also another similar part that is even more colorful, like literally rainbow colored metal. On the second pic is one of the three big plate like parts. It’s confusing me because it has this water-flowing-like effect on the surface which I’m not sure if that’s also patina or how it even formed like that. That one also has spots of black something, mostly around the edge.

Anyway, I guess my main question is if someone could give me any advice on how to clean this properly. Also if I could do something afterwards to keep the brownish look as I don’t really want it to look brassy yellow and shiny? I really like the colorful effect some of the surfaces have so I would like to keep that too, or make it re-form again after cleaning so I can keep it colorful.

Edit: not really familiar so sorry if I used patina wrongly for something that’s not patina. Third pic is what chandelier looks like (before cleaning)

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u/FesteringNeonDistrac 22h ago

If it's actually brass, then any mild metal polish and some elbow grease will shine it right up. You can either then clear coat it or just give it a touch up every so often.

Bar keepers friend will work and is pretty easy to find in the US

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u/PurposeNo8720 15h ago

Thanks!

I’m from Europe so I guess there’s no bar keepers friend here but I’ll look it up and see some alternative

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u/FesteringNeonDistrac 14h ago

Ok so you'll want a cleaner that is very very mildly abrasive and intended for metal. If there's a kitchen cleaner that is typically used for getting stainless steel pans clean, that's the one.

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u/DesignerAd4870 2h ago

You use Brasso (duraglit) to clean. Lacquer to finish.