Important: Safety Warning
This page directs the use of hazardous substances — such as benzine, gasoline, lye, or strong acids — for household tasks. These materials are highly flammable, corrosive, or poisonous, and the practices described have caused fires, burns, and poisonings.
This information has been left in for historical purposes but should not be acted upon.
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To Clean Brass
Brass and copper are best cleaned with sweet oil and Tripoli, powdered bath-brick, rotten stone, or red brick-dust, rubbed on with flannel and polished with leather. Vitriol and muriatic acid make brass and copper very bright, but they very soon tarnish, and consequently require more frequent cleaning. A strong lye of rochesolution of oxalic acid rubbed over tarnished