cleaning varnish/lacquer off brass

Oct 24, 2011 3 Replies

My Dad before he died sprayed/painted my mums brass scale pans with some sort of lacquer (cant ask him now what type it was) - the pans have become darkly discolored and my mum wants to clean/polish them - she has tried brasso, vinegar, brillo/wire wool and cant shift it. I have tried various solvents e.g. methanol, propanol and the 'new improved' dichlorethane free nitromors - no joy any idea what may shift this? Dont have access to MEK any more so a readiliy available product would be preferable - how about hamerite brush cleaner??



Any help please...


Would a bit of heat flake it off?

I find that cellulose thinners is the most useful liquid there is for remov= ing all sorts of stuff. I recommend anyone to keep a can handy. BTW, a 5 li= tre can from a motor factor costs about =A310, compared to about =A35 for 1=

00ccs from Halfords (I'm not exactly sure about the Halfords price but I kn= ow it's a hell of a lot dearer per unit).

Rustins 'Strypit' used to be good for de-lacquering brass, but that too has been reformulated [1] to be DCM-free, so YMMV. Rustins stuff has always been good though, IME.

[1]
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