My 2 cents worth of response: there are several combinations of ingredients to add to the water and I’m sure each one works well. For me, the pins aren’t a problem. Cleaning is a summertime event for me. After the brass is tumbled I place them on a towel, in a small plastic kiddie pool, and in the sunshine to dry. At the end of the day the brass is dry and the pins fall out of the brass when I pick them up. I’ll run a magnet around the kiddie pool and pick up the pins that were in the brass.