restoring finish to brass plated tub drain

[tadamsmar]

I have a tub where the visible surface of the drain looks bad. brown and green corrosion. Originally it had shiny yellow brass finish. I think I ruined it with drain clog chemicals. (I avoid those now, I would funnel them in with great care if I felt a need to)

Anyway, I want to improve the looks of the surface.

I could clean and polish it with steel wool, I think. I figure the surface will look more like steel than brass at that point.

Is there a way to resurface it that looks good?

Is there at least something I can put on it after I polish it down to metal to stop corrosion?

[Jeff Wisnia]

If you're really hung up about getting it "back to brass" and don't mind spending a few bucks to do it (without having to tear out plumbing), you can do your clean and polish thing with the steel wool and then use a brush plating kit like the ones you can get here:

You'll have to kneel over the tub for a while strokin' away, bt I can testify to their practicality, and you may find other uses for it from time to time.

HTH,

Jeff

[DanG]

On the off chance that it is really brass, I think I would start with some Brasso and a soft cloth. The green kinda indicates brass. If you get it nice and shiny, you can protect with lacquer or paste wax.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[RicodJour]

Buy a new one. They're cheap, standard sizes and it's a hell of a lot easier.

R

[James "Cubby" Culbertson]

Ditto the effort with Brasso first. Can't hurt and I've found Brasso cleans up a number of metals, not just brass. I can't agree with paste wax as a protector though. Wax offers little to no protection to water and in this use, it just wouldn't hold up. Lacquer might hold up better but if this tub gets regular use, you ought to just plan on shining it up every so often, assuming it is truly brass. Chances are, it's not and all bets are off! Cheers, cc

[tadamsmar]

I don't have easy access under the tub, so I don't see an easy way to replace the drain. Or an easy way to replace the tub.

The tub was probably installed before any walls and ceilings.

[tadamsmar]

Tried some old Brasso that I had. Did clean up the green stuff well; the surface is still tarnished but does not look like steel. Will try another application of Brasso perhaps from a new bottle. I know that some of my sink drains are plated and will not clean up well, but maybe the tub drain is different since it does not have obvious two-toned spots with and without plating. I plan to replace one sink drain that was damaged with drain clog removal chemicals,a drain that has easy access.

[RicodJour]

Maybe I'm not reading you. Is this what you're talking about?

If so, unscrew the screw in the middle of it and pop in the new one. They also make snap-in replacements - makes cleaning the gunk out a bit easier.

R

[tadamsmar]

No, it would be a tub drain assembly:

I don't know how to do a tiny url.

The one above is chrome plated brass. But mine had a brass finish.