There is a lot of brass on and in the house, but the mailbox is flat-black, boxy, and ugly. I’m not sure when it was added, but I knew I wanted it to go even before we signed the contract. I also knew I wanted the replacement to be brass (or gold-colored) and look vintage. For several months, Chelsea and I have searched online and at antique stores for something that would work. eBay ended up being the solution.
My guess is that the one above is not an authentic antique. Ones like it are available too often, so I assume it is a reproduction. The ones listed as “Buy It Now” are priced as if they are authentic, but I think they are simply charging a fortune for the effort to clean them. Instead of giving in, I decided to keep an eye on the ones being auctioned. I noticed the one above and added it to my eBay watchlist.
Why that one?
Because it was so dull from tarnish I figured a lot of potential buyers would skip it. My real fear was one or more of the people who sell them for a premium would want it in order to polish and relist. Fortunately, that didn’t appear to occur in this instance. I was able to buy it for 40% of what the others are asking.
Okay. Now that I have it for a fair price, how am I going to clean it?
I started with Brasso. Makes sense. It is a metal cleaner and even has brass in the name. While it may have made sense, it didn’t make for easy work. No matter how much I rubbed, brushed, or polished there were areas that just wouldn’t come clean.
The next step was an internet search for “is it safe to clean brass with 0000 steel wool?” since I had some of that in my tool kit. That led to an article at tingedblue.com that approached cleaning brass like a series of chemistry experiments. They had also started with Brasso and weren’t happy with the amount of effort and time, so I knew I had found a kindred spirit. I ended up going with the white vinegar with kosher salt on a piece of aluminum foil method because I had all three of those items on hand.
I didn’t notice my concoction bubbling or doing anything obvious other than the mailbox was getting darker.
Wait! Was that supposed to happen?
The blogger didn’t mention that as a possibility or if she did, I skipped it in my haste for a solution. Just like any good scientist, I freaked out a little, stuck my hand in the vinegar/salt soup, and touched the mailbox. The tarnish immediately came off with a light brush of my fingers. My breathing quickly returned to normal once I was reassured that things seemed to be on track.
Twenty minutes later, a little bit of polishing while rinsing with warm water, and I could put this project out of mind — except for the smell of freshly dyed Easter eggs every time my hands get near my face.