Karl S wrote:
On Tue, 31 Oct 2006 13:50:12 GMT, Al Schmidt wrote:

I am remodeling a house I just purchased. It has an Iron and Brass handrail
on the stairs. The brass has years of cleaners, wax, dirt and tarnish on it.
There is the brass hand rail and some brass flutes and beads on the
balustrades. I've tried many of the metal cleaners from the hardware store
and they just don't get the job done. I think I should get a bench top
buffer and some rubbing compound. Sound right?

Al

Many, if not most, architectural brass items are clear coated as the last
step in manufacturing.

If you don't remove this coating before you use metal cleaners, you are
asking for a lot of work because you have to wear through the coating
before you get to the metal.

The clear coating can often be removed with lacquer thinner, and almost
always with paint and varnish remover.

Try it, you will probably be surprised. It's actually easy polish brass if
that't what you are actually polishing.

brass is often laquered , so make sure this is removed , and considered
recoating it after polishing