# I have a lot of brass to polish.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 15, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763 "2011-10-15T22:15:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763/1 "2011-10-15T22:15:51Z")

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I have aqcuired a very old, very ginormous brass bed. It has a great deal of tarnish. I also have a brass polishing kit that appears to be older than I am. I am small and not terribly strong. Any ideas? Tips or tricks? I am quite fond of the bed.

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**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763/2 "2011-10-15T22:20:20Z")

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[Brasso.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasso) There may be better shit out there, but people have been buying Brasso for over a hundred years. It’s the Kleenex of brass polishers.

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**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763/3 "2011-10-15T23:29:03Z")

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Power tools. You don’t want to de-tarnish an entire bedstead by hand.

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**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763/4 "2011-10-15T23:37:35Z")

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True enough, but you’ll still want an abrasive polish, elbow grease or Dremel notwithstanding.

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**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-a-lot-of-brass-to-polish/599763/5 "2011-10-16T00:07:55Z")

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you could ask seven salty seamen to come over and shine the whole thing for you at once 😃  
when I was Navy, I had to \*polish the Big Brass Bell. Brasso = awesome.  
\*one of the innumerable tiresome tasks allotted to those who are

1. of low rank or
2. being intentionally punished “extra duty”