Can you antique brass

Knowing how to antique brass gives you the flexibility to create your home environment as you see fit. When you antique your brass, you add complexity and grace to your decor. This article looks at the best methods of darkening brass.

Your home will shine, and your guests will rave about your good taste. Making brass look old is not a difficult process but there are some steps to follow to make sure you do it correctly. In order to know the best way to tarnish brass , we first need to look at what tarnish is, and how it works and forms. Raw brass oxidizes in a hurry, and this process causes tarnish to develop. Tarnish arrests oxidation and prevents further decay. You can cause tarnish to develop by forcing your brass fixtures to oxidize through various methods.

Before you can create tarnish, though, you need to know how to prepare brass. This section walks you through the brass preparation process to get ready for tarnishing. Before antiquing brass, you need to know the best way to clean brass first. Your number one task will be to get your brass cleaned and ready to go through the aging process so that you can age it correctly and so that it will last.

Follow this easy process to clean brass before antiquing. Place your brass pulls and other pieces in the boiling water, and let them sit for at least ten minutes. Remove the clean brass with tongs and allow items to cool, then use the toothbrush and more hot water to clean out any crevices. Clean off any lacquer with nail polish remover or paint stripper and steel wool.

Brass is a popular alloy and comes in solid and plate form. The easiest way to tell whether you have a brass plate or not is to use a magnet. Solid brass can tolerate the stronger antiquing methods, but be careful with plated brass and only use gentle aging methods such as a vinegar wash.

Having a few brass antiquing options that use household products is a significant first step when you want to age your brass. Good old salt water is one of the best oxidizers out there, which is why metal exposed to salt water rusts or tarnishes so quickly. Harness that power to create custom-aged brass hardware in just a few days. Don the gloves. Place the brass on top of the objects.

Seal the lid to trap the vinegar fumes and let them alter the brass for several hours or overnight. Whichever method you used, wash with warm water and dry. Once the result you want is achieved, which may take several applications, wash the brass in warm water. Dry it gently with a towel or by applying heat. Once it is dry, you have the option to preserve its color by coating with a brass lacquer or wax. Method 3. To age brass rapidly, purchase an antiquing solution.

This is the quickest of all methods, but it does require you to purchase a specialized product. These are sold as antiquing solutions or brass agers. The specific brand will determine the appearance of the antiqued piece, but the process should be similar regardless. Always follow the instructions for Preparing Your Brass before beginning any antiquing method. This is not a good method to follow if you're not certain that your piece is solid brass.

See Using Vinegar or Salt Water instead. Use rubber gloves, safety goggles, and good ventilation. Antiquing solutions can be made with a variety of chemicals, most of which can damage skin and eyes or release toxic fumes.

Protect yourself with basic safety equipment and open the windows before you begin. Be especially careful if your product contains any of these hazardous chemicals: ammonium hydroxide, glacial acetic acid, nitric acid, or sulfuric acid.

Dilute the antiquing solution according to the manufacturer's instructions. Read the label carefully. Some solutions may not require diluting, whereas others require as much as 10 parts water to 1 part antiquing solution. Use room temperature water and mix in a ceramic or plastic container large enough to submerge the entire brass object.

Do not use container made from other materials, as the acids in the solution could corrode them. Do not fill the container too full.

Leave room to fit the brass object without the container overflowing. While wearing gloves, agitate the brass object beneath the surface of the antiquing solution. Hold the brass in the solution and move back and forth to dislodge air bubbles. Make sure the solution covers the entire object, but doesn't reach near the top of your gloves.

Air bubbles that remain on the brass will cause bright spots where the brass was not aged. Turn the brass object in your gloves so you get even exposure to the solution. Watch the color change and pull out when the desired color is reached. It should take between a few seconds and a couple minutes to begin changing colors, moving from pink to red to brown to black.

Pull it out when you see the color you're aiming for. If you plan to brighten your object with highlighting see below , let it get slightly darker than the color you want. Don't worry that you'll ruin your brass. If you pulled it out too early, simply put it back and shake again. If you pulled it out too late, scrub with a scotch-brite pad or lightly with steel wool to remove the color so you can try again.

Rinse the object to highlight optional. Rinse with hot water and clean off the resulting white powder using a sponge or scotch-brite pad.

This results in a brighter, accented object compared to the darker, even patina it had immediately after treatment. If you are trying to create a black or almost black patina, you'll have better results getting the patina to stay if you dip it in two or three stages, rinsing between each one.

Dry evenly. Once you are satisfied with the color, immediately dry the whole object. Wet patches will dry darker than the rest of the surface.

You may want to use a paper towel or rag, since some color could rub off onto it. Treat with lacquer or wax to preserve the current color optional. Applying a brass lacquer or other brass finishing treatment will prevent the brass from aging further. This is recommended if the brass is handled frequently or if you want to preserve the current color. Method 4. Apply ammonia periodically to produce the most natural aged appearance. Ammonia is a caustic substance that should be treated with caution, but it does come closer than any other method to creating the green brown appearance of naturally aged brass.

Ammonia will eventually evaporate off the brass, so you'll need to commit to repeating this process every time your brass returns to its old appearance. How long this takes depends on the exact qualities of your object. This process will not succeed if you do not follow the steps for Preparing Your Brass beforehand. Buy ammonia and a sealable bucket from a hardware store. You'll need "full strength" or "clear" ammonia, not the dilute household ammonia more commonly sold at supermarkets.

The hardware store is also a good place to buy a plastic bucket with airtight sealable lid, sometimes called "pickle buckets".

For tiny pieces of brass, you can use a glass bottle with airtight cap instead of a bucket. Tie it with a cord and suspend it over a small amount of ammonia, screwing the cap firmly to hold the cord in place and trap the ammonia fumes. Wear rubber gloves, safety goggles, and work only in areas with excellent ventilation. Ammonia fumes are toxic and should never be inhaled.

Work outside if possible or in a room with great air flow. Place a wooden block in the bottom of the bucket. You should create a stable, flat "shelf" large enough for the brass object to sit on. Use a piece of plywood for large objects, stacked on top of several pieces of wood to make it stable.

Pour ammonia into the bucket. Keep the ammonia level below the upper surface of the wood. You don't need too much, although more ammonia may hasten the process. Place the brass objects on the wooden "shelf". Make sure they are stable and in no danger of falling into the ammonia. If they do, remove it with gloved hands and wash in warm water.

Dry before returning to the wooden bucket. Seal the lid and check back periodically. Depending on the temperature and humidity, freshness of the ammonia, and exact characteristics of your brass, the antiquing could take hours to take effect.

Check back every hour or so to see how its progressing, taking care not to breathe the fumes that escape the bucket. Open the lid slightly for a quick glance, then close it tightly to keep most of the ammonia fumes in. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

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