Citric acid and brass cleaning

[dale2242]

I have never seen the need for hot/boiling water in a SS tumbler.
I put the deprimed brass in my Lyman wet tumbler, fill nearly full with cold tap water, add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid, and give it a squirt of Dawn dish soap.
Tumble for 3 hrs. and the brass is brighter than new.
I rinse the tumbled bras a few times with clean tap water.
It gets dried on a dark towel in the sun in the summer and in the dehydrator in the winter.

[fatnhappy]

I have never seen the need for hot/boiling water in a SS tumbler.
I put the deprimed brass in my Lyman wet tumbler, fill nearly full with cold tap water, add 1/2 teaspoon citric acid, and give it a squirt of Dawn dish soap.
Tumble for 3 hrs. and the brass is brighter than new.
I rinse the tumbled bras a few times with clean tap water.
It gets dried on a dark towel in the sun in the summer and in the dehydrator in the winter.

I couldn’t agree with Dale more.
I don’t care about shiny brass either, but I do want it clean for the sake of my dies. No dust or abrasives.

Ymmv

[BamaNapper]

I use the ever popular lanolin/alcohol mix for a case lube. The lanolin leaves a film that can be stubborn. Adding a splash of degreaser concentrate to the tumbler got rid of it in a hurry.

[fatnhappy]

I use the ever popular lanolin/alcohol mix for a case lube. The lanolin leaves a film that can be stubborn. Adding a splash of degreaser concentrate to the tumbler got rid of it in a hurry.

Woolite works too.

[jetinteriorguy]

Woolite works too.

Is that regular Woolite or the one in the black bottle?

[BamaNapper]

I heard that. Didn't have Woolite already at home. Purple Power concentrate was $5 for a half gal jug at Walmart. Cheaper, plus I have more uses for the degreaser than I'd have for Woolite. Besides, the wife won't use it so I know it'll be there.

I had read that the regular woolite was what people were using on their brass.

[jetinteriorguy]

I heard that. Didn't have Woolite already at home. Purple Power concentrate was $5 for a half gal jug at Walmart. Cheaper, plus I have more uses for the degreaser than I'd have for Woolite. Besides, the wife won't use it so I know it'll be there.

I had read that the regular woolite was what people were using on their brass.

Thanks brutha. I used regular Woolite today since my wife had some on hand. It worked pretty good, but I’m going to check this out tomorrow at Wally World.

[fatnhappy]

regular woolite. I was delighted to finally find a use for the half dozen bottles that have been in my laundry room for 20 years. The bonus being a reloading related usage.

prost!

[greenjoytj]

Woolite in cold water will keep you 44 mag brass from shrinking to 357 mag.

But I prefer to use powdered Cascade dishwashing machine detergent. I believe it already has some citric acid powder in it. Which is probably the reason you’re not supposed to wash fine bone China particularly if it has gold in the pattern because the pattern will get faded out.

I did try a Cascade Platinum dishwashing machine Pod. Wow, It cleaned inside as shiny as the outside. But the colour of the brass came out a darker old gold, like an old brass candle holder not shiny like the brass in the post #23 photos.

[jetinteriorguy]

Woolite in cold water will keep you 44 mag brass from shrinking to 357 mag.

But I prefer to use powdered Cascade dishwashing machine detergent. I believe it already has some citric acid powder in it. Which is probably the reason you’re not supposed to wash fine bone China particularly if it has gold in the pattern because the pattern will get faded out.

I did try a Cascade Platinum dishwashing machine Pod. Wow, It cleaned inside as shiny as the outside. But the colour of the brass came out a darker old gold, like an old brass candle holder not shiny like the brass in the post #23 photos.

Sounds interesting, may have to give this a try. I’m really impressed cleaning with this method. The thing always holding me back was the steel pins, but they really aren’t necessary.