Homebrew Bronze Cleaners
By Bill Whitney
Every now and then you come across something in a
nautically oriented publication that not only applies to a Friend-
ship sloop, but also really works. Here are two recipes for
homemade bronze cleaner that I picked up from an old copy of
Practical Sailor. I have edited it slightly to remove superfluous
information.
“Lest you think multi-billion-dollar chemical companies
and their geeks in white lab coats have a lock on cleaning your
bronze, there are numerous homebrewed cleaning solutions that
folks claim have the ability to put a shine on your bronze and a
gleam in your eye. We decided to test two of these strange
brews. Below are the recipes and our test results. These recipes
were pulled from the Internet,
HOME BREW NO. 1: SALT AND VINEGAR PASTE
Recipe: Dissolve 3 teaspoons of salt into 1 cup of white vinegar.
Add enough flour to make a paste, and then scoop the paste onto
a clean sponge and polish. Rinse with hot water and buff dry
with a soft cloth.
Result: This polish worked surprisingly well. While it took a
little scrubbing, and we had to let the tougher stains soak for 10
to 15 minutes, it worked well overall and earned a rating of
“Good” on our’test scale.
HOME BREW NO. 2: LEMON PASTE
Recipe: Polish with a soft cloth soaked in a solution of lemon
juice and baking soda, or sprinkle baking soda on a slice of
lemon and scrub. (We made a paste as in Brew No. 1.)
Result: After the mini-volcanic reaction of mixing lemon juice
and baking soda settled down, the resulting paste powered off
the stains exceptionally well with minimal scrubbing. We tried
using a slice of lemon, but the cloth held up better and worked
best while rubbing—it was also less messy. This home brew
polish earned a solid rating of “Very good” on our test scale,
comparable with many of our top commercially produced
performers.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the results in the home brew category were
pretty impressive, particularly considering that they have all
natural ingredients and that both are economical to make. While
the Brews Nos. 1 and 2 cleaned the bronze, they lacked the
“luster” of products such as the Miracle Cloth. Following up the
cleaning with a coat of wax would add shine and additional
protection.”
I like, and have used, both recipes. I personally like
Home Brew #2 for two reasons. We usually don’t have enough
salt or flour on board to mix a batch for recipe #1, but we
certainly have more than enough left-over lemons (or limes)
from our evening consumption of Tangueray gin and tonic. So
raise a glass to Home Brew #2!
