Need to polish a bronze plaque on a gravestone. Oxidized due to weather, what is the best way to clean this up and also is there a wax or something I can put on it to help keep it looking good?
cleaning bronze
- Thread starter Backally
- Start date
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Copper and bronze is supposed to tke on a patina that antique collectors love.
If you really want to clean it though..A caustic product like CLR Clear would work.
Here's what I would do... From Hobby Lobby, get a bottle of safety flux. It is especially designed for copper and brass, thinner than water, labor free, will not harm surrounding materials any more than Windex would. After than gets the tarnish and green patina off, wash with Windex, water rinse, dry. Now the labor... Maguire's All Metals polish will leave a protective film but it aint much or very long lasting. Better than nothing though. Cleaning its white residue from small details is the only labor.
If you really want to clean it though..A caustic product like CLR Clear would work.
Here's what I would do... From Hobby Lobby, get a bottle of safety flux. It is especially designed for copper and brass, thinner than water, labor free, will not harm surrounding materials any more than Windex would. After than gets the tarnish and green patina off, wash with Windex, water rinse, dry. Now the labor... Maguire's All Metals polish will leave a protective film but it aint much or very long lasting. Better than nothing though. Cleaning its white residue from small details is the only labor.
zkx14
Duster De-ruster
I did research on my family tree a few years back. Visited a lot of cemeteries and saw a lot of stones damaged, some from people who thought they were 'preserving'.
I think car wax would help to protect it, but do some real research (not on a car forum). There are a lot of cemetery / genealogy sites online that will offer cleaning methods. Just do a search, but you could try ancestry.com or findagrave.com I'm sure most will recommend the less you do the better, (prefering that you do nothing). ie. soft brushes, gently clean with mild soap. I would not try anything as aggressive as CLR, but if you do try to completly remove tarnish keep any chemicals off the stone or it could etch it with runs etc. Whatever you use, be sure to rinse thoroughly to stop the 'cleaning' process.
I think car wax would help to protect it, but do some real research (not on a car forum). There are a lot of cemetery / genealogy sites online that will offer cleaning methods. Just do a search, but you could try ancestry.com or findagrave.com I'm sure most will recommend the less you do the better, (prefering that you do nothing). ie. soft brushes, gently clean with mild soap. I would not try anything as aggressive as CLR, but if you do try to completly remove tarnish keep any chemicals off the stone or it could etch it with runs etc. Whatever you use, be sure to rinse thoroughly to stop the 'cleaning' process.
zkx14
Duster De-ruster
No doubt about that, but memorials are out in the elements 24/7 - forever. Every time you do anything to improve its appearance that removes material, it is actually accelerating the long term deterioration. If you just clean and then apply some kind of wax or sealer it should be beneficial. Just be sure you pick a cleaner that is safe. I know I saw not to use ammonia and nothing abrasive...
goldfish65
Well-Known Member
Ketchup will clean it safely, you might have to give it a couple hours to work, and loosen the oxidation with a soft brush, rinse thoroughly and dry. It will be nice and shiny, but it will immediately start to oxidize again. Metal polishes like Flitz will protect it but not for long. It is hard to seal bronze because whatever you use won't adhere well to the metal, and out in the elements it will chip and flake and then it will look really bad.
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