Making bronze fittings shiny again!!

[davidt]

I put a lovely range of new silicon bronze fittings on my new boat last year......fairleads, cleats etc. Now of course they have gone a nice shade of grimy green. I asked the guys at Classic Marine (who were very helpful as always) and in answer to the question 'How do I keep the fittings nice and shiny' replied 'Hire a paid crew to polish them every day'. Good idea but for a 15ft clinker dinghy, it's a bit over the top.

Are there any suggestions for making sure I can get a bit of shine without taking them all off and putting them in a polisher?

Many thanks

DT

 

[tritonofnor]

get some citric acid from boots, mix up a solution with water, about 4 tablesppons citric/ 1 litre h20, paint on leave for 5 mins rinse with plenty of fresh water. Repeat if necessary. Polish with Brasso or similar, and then LACQUER!

 

[tcm]

um, if you lacquer than it won't be polishable when it begins to go green again.

Better is to have a load of crew to polish them, all the time.

 

[Poignard]

Solvol Autosolve [from car accessory shops] is an excellent metal polish. If you don't want to lacquer, a coat of vaseline or wax polish will preserve the finish for a while.

 

[FWB]

Use one of those green synthetic scouring pads for pots and pans. Use with water. wipe off the excess otherwise it will leave black marks. This will bring them up like new. Works for me.

 

[robind]

Try Brown sauce! HP (on a small part first), it works on copper, brilliantly? cover the item and leave for a while and hey ho shiny clean! try an old penny first to check out what happens!

 

[Peterduck]

If you lack fiercely enthusiastic crew who love polishing, can I seriously suggest having the parts Gold Plated. The casual observer will assume that you have been up since 3 am polishing the 'brass', and the more astute observer [who knows gold when he sees it] will think that you are the wealthiest boat owner on the water, and that he should nominate you for the R.Y.S. at least. As only a few microns of gold are deposited on the parts, it isn't as expensive as you'd think, and you certainly won't have to keep rubbing away looking for a genie [to do the polishing].
Peter.

 

[Mirelle]

Kettle descaler

will get the green off. Then polish.

It will soon go green again, but there you are..

 

[tcm]

that's an excellent idea, and bronze should be a good base for gold plating too. And of course, no more polishing (or hardly any) needed ever again.

 

[davidt]

thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will try a few of these ideas out. Boat goes back in the water this Sunday.....so all very exciting as she will be sporting a new set of sails. She's only a Wivenhoe One Design but to me she is magic! OH yeah and she's called Toucan which means she does not have a girls name.....important if I want to keep my other half.

Cheers everyone.

DT

 

[Topcat47]

Having made mine seriously shiny over the winter, they've all gone green in a fortnight. Waste of time really.

 

[Gordonmc]

Clear laquer from an auto shop kept my binacle un-green for the whole of last season and only started to fail after most of the winter. The verdigris will get in under any edges where there are moving parts but vaseline or lanolin will help there.
I just got rid of the laquer with paint stripper and did it again. Once a year instead of every week isn't bad.