How does brass age

Leave it covered with this mixture for one night and wash thoroughly the next morning. Then dry carefully with a soft cloth. The acids will make brass oxidize faster and it will darken soon. Probably the fastest way to age your brass. Just buy any spray paint that has antique brass color and apply it according to the instruction. Buying an antiquing agent is the easiest way to age your brass item. Simply follow the instructions and make sure your object is pure brass!

How to age brass with ammonia? Before you begin, take a bucket and put a wooden shelf inside to place your brass item on it. Make sure it is stable and is fixed well. Take clear ammonia and pour it into the bucket. It must not cover the wooden surface with a brass item on it though. Close the bucket with the lid and leave it. When you see that your item got the desired color, take it out and dry it in a well-ventilated area.

Most brass we see has been lacquered so that wears off before we can see the tarniah, I can ask my son what he notices on his slide he is working a double shift today nad early tomorrow, so it might not be this evening , but I would also ask the folks at Visual Comfort how often they clean and polish theirs. Hmm, yes they are beautiful! The ones I like best! But they will go in the kitchen over the island.

They are already Antique Brass, which will look different than the aged brass pictured above. Those lamps are gorgeous and I suspect will not age as much as plain brass would, because they are already chemically darkened. I have antique brass doorknobs and they look pretty much as they did 33 years ago when the house was built and I don't think they are lacquered. The WS site says to use no chemical or abrasive cleaners on them, so I don't believe they are intended to be polished.

You could easily lacquer them before hanging if you were worried about it, but I wouldn't worry at all. I agree with Olychick.

I don't think those are a natural brass. The care says not to use abrasives that could damage the finish which seems to indicate that the antiquing has left soe kind of finish on them. The Visual Comfort fixture I looked at had silver fittings inside glass -- it would have been a real pain to polish and they said yes they did require polishing. Not going to deal with that over or near a bathtub. Yes, the same and with shipping almost the same price. WS at least has a good reputation, return policy.

However, they are in stock here at houzz shopping. We have two Visual Comfort fixtures in antique brass dining room and kitchen. They are listed as antique, but don't have the same qualifier about darkening as those pendants so maybe they are laquered?

Anyways, ours don't seem to have darkened over the 8 months we've had them. We ordered ours through a local lighting company and with our designer's discount they were a bit cheaper than online and we had that security of being able to return easily and their guarantee. I remember having a very large brass chandelier in the house I grew up in and it was my job to polish it once a year. I kind of liked doing it, but I also remember I liked ironing clothes at that age - harder to enjoy those meditative tasks as an adult when you have a million other things waiting to be done :.

Keep looking for me though! Surely I can get them cheaper somewhere I don't have a designer, daisychain, just a simple remodel and upgrade of certain things. Polishing is not my thing though! Try again - I just went in again and got it. Or message me with your email address and I'll put it in for you as I have left the pop-up 'up'. Those brass lights from WS are gorgeous.

They probably have been coated with something to keep them from tarnishing, manufacturers usually do that especially for lighting of that high quality. I'm a metal smith and do not coat my pieces because I haven't found any coating product I like The very tarnished pieces shown by another poster were probably installed or stored outside and if they did have a lacquer or coating, that flaked off long ago. Use vinegar vapors for a warm brown appearance. This may not achieve the authentic appearance that ammonia or antiquing solution will, but some people prefer the "gingerbread" appearance that results.

In any case, it is certainly safer and less expensive than those methods. Pour some vinegar into a plastic bucket with an airtight lid. Place wooden blocks or other objects into the bucket so a stable, flat surface is dry above the level of the vinegar.

Place the brass on top of the objects. Seal the lid to trap the vinegar fumes and let them alter the brass for several hours or overnight. Whichever method you used, wash with warm water and dry. Once the result you want is achieved, which may take several applications, wash the brass in warm water. Dry it gently with a towel or by applying heat. Once it is dry, you have the option to preserve its color by coating with a brass lacquer or wax.

Method 3. To age brass rapidly, purchase an antiquing solution. This is the quickest of all methods, but it does require you to purchase a specialized product.

These are sold as antiquing solutions or brass agers. The specific brand will determine the appearance of the antiqued piece, but the process should be similar regardless. Always follow the instructions for Preparing Your Brass before beginning any antiquing method. This is not a good method to follow if you're not certain that your piece is solid brass. See Using Vinegar or Salt Water instead. Use rubber gloves, safety goggles, and good ventilation. Antiquing solutions can be made with a variety of chemicals, most of which can damage skin and eyes or release toxic fumes.

Protect yourself with basic safety equipment and open the windows before you begin. Be especially careful if your product contains any of these hazardous chemicals: ammonium hydroxide, glacial acetic acid, nitric acid, or sulfuric acid.

Dilute the antiquing solution according to the manufacturer's instructions. Read the label carefully. Some solutions may not require diluting, whereas others require as much as 10 parts water to 1 part antiquing solution. Use room temperature water and mix in a ceramic or plastic container large enough to submerge the entire brass object.

Do not use container made from other materials, as the acids in the solution could corrode them. Do not fill the container too full.

Leave room to fit the brass object without the container overflowing. While wearing gloves, agitate the brass object beneath the surface of the antiquing solution. Hold the brass in the solution and move back and forth to dislodge air bubbles. Make sure the solution covers the entire object, but doesn't reach near the top of your gloves.

Air bubbles that remain on the brass will cause bright spots where the brass was not aged. Turn the brass object in your gloves so you get even exposure to the solution. Watch the color change and pull out when the desired color is reached.

It should take between a few seconds and a couple minutes to begin changing colors, moving from pink to red to brown to black. Pull it out when you see the color you're aiming for. If you plan to brighten your object with highlighting see below , let it get slightly darker than the color you want. Don't worry that you'll ruin your brass. If you pulled it out too early, simply put it back and shake again.

If you pulled it out too late, scrub with a scotch-brite pad or lightly with steel wool to remove the color so you can try again. Rinse the object to highlight optional. Rinse with hot water and clean off the resulting white powder using a sponge or scotch-brite pad.

This results in a brighter, accented object compared to the darker, even patina it had immediately after treatment. If you are trying to create a black or almost black patina, you'll have better results getting the patina to stay if you dip it in two or three stages, rinsing between each one.

Dry evenly. Once you are satisfied with the color, immediately dry the whole object. Wet patches will dry darker than the rest of the surface. You may want to use a paper towel or rag, since some color could rub off onto it.

Treat with lacquer or wax to preserve the current color optional. Applying a brass lacquer or other brass finishing treatment will prevent the brass from aging further.

This is recommended if the brass is handled frequently or if you want to preserve the current color. Method 4. Apply ammonia periodically to produce the most natural aged appearance. Ammonia is a caustic substance that should be treated with caution, but it does come closer than any other method to creating the green brown appearance of naturally aged brass.

Ammonia will eventually evaporate off the brass, so you'll need to commit to repeating this process every time your brass returns to its old appearance. The short answer is yes, you can later lacquer your raw brass. However, if it were me, I would keep the lovely raw brass of your traditional mansion AS IS, and embrace the layered patina it develops over time. I would specifically NOT polish it.

The beauty and sought after look of raw brass is indeed the natural aged look — that is very hard to imitate. Un-lacquered brass is hard to find these days, and more expensive than lacquered brass. I hope I can convince you to allow your raw brass to naturally age, and embrace the elegant character it will show in time.

Hi, thanks so much for the article. However only some of the fixtures I need are available unlaquered. Have you ever mixed lacquered and unlaquered brass? And do you know if the tone of brass changes much between suppliers or stays fairly consistent? Any advice is much appreciated! Rather than mixing raw with another kind of brass, I would definitely rather add a second metal, like matte black.

Those two work well together, and it will cause your beautiful raw brass to stand out. Also, antique brass can vary quite a bit between different manufacturers. Hope that helps, all best with your project! I also have a q. I have raw brass on my stove and hood.