Cleaning Horse Brasses

[Handstitched]

I have recently been given the job of making some new leather straps/thongs for 2 sets of 'horse brasses'.The old ones were made of some kind of compounded cardboard made to look like 'feux leather'

I enjoy making these as they look quite spectacular when they are finished.

However, when it comes to cleaning the brasses before assembly, I do find that some of them have been covered in a laquer, ( GRRR) making it quite difficult to polish up.Some of the laquered brasses looked quite discoloured and untidy as a result.

At first , to remove the laquer, I did try just using a bit of 'elbow grease' with some chrome polish first, ( as used on cars) as it is a mild abrasive, this stuff is a paste out of a tube , not an acidic liquid. 'Brasso' on its own wouldn't touch it.Using a machine buffer was not an option as that may be too harsh on intricate designs ,wording etc.

But then , I'm thinking , the laquer is presumably polyeurethane based, so therefore ,actetone should disolve it. (I was in the fibreglass industry for 10 yrs.....that WAS helpful).

And I was right, I placed the offending brasses in just a little bit of acetone in a china dish for a few minutes each. After taking them out, I used a little bit of chrome cleaner, just enough to remove the laquer, which has now softened up,.(I also used an old toothbrush for the fiddly bits) and I finished them with 'brasso'.

They came up a treat.

I hope this helps someone with a similar problem.

I am open to other ideas

All the best,

HS

[UKRay]

Very useful, HS, many thanks - now what would be really useful would be a source for acetone in the UK. I wouldn't know where to start. Is it restricted in any way?

Ray

[tashabear]

Very useful, HS, many thanks - now what would be really useful would be a source for acetone in the UK. I wouldn't know where to start. Is it restricted in any way?

Ray

Nail polish remover is a place to start. IIRC, I can get acetone at the DIY store in the paint department, but I'd have to double-check.

[gary]

Ray,

Nail polish remover was m y first thought as well (think what you will of that) but car paint shops and ship's chandlers sell it as well (something to do with cleaning up glass fibre resin mess). You can also get something called methyl-ethyl ketone which does a similar job.

Gary