The Only Ingredient You Need to Clean Copper

I had an old copper washtub that was my Grandma's. It was dented, scratched and had a greenish cast to it. It was not a pretty sight but to me it was beautiful!
Here is the after and when you compare it to the before (below) you'll understand why I am so pleased with the fact that this worked.
This is my Grandma's washtub in all it's glory ;)
I had tried every product on the market to clean the washtub and get it shiny again but usually my arm got tired from all the rubbing and buffing and I was never quite able to get it to shine. Until...ketchup!
This picture pretty much tells it all. I couldn't believe my results. My intention was to use the tub to hold a Christmas tree. This worked so well that I was able to do just that and now I have it in my livingroom holding magazines and books.
Mary Beth @ The How to Home
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 65 comments
  • Momentumjanitorial Momentumjanitorial on Feb 08, 2017
    Ketchup is a nice idea for copper cleaning and one should definitely implement this idea for their cleaning. Although you can use vinegar and salt for copper cleaning but lemon is more effective. Cut a lemon in half; dip the cut end in salt and scrub the copper with it. Lemon juice and vinegar may be great for cleaning copper.
  • Flo11875819 Flo11875819 on Jul 16, 2017

    My mom had one when I was small. It was used to boil Water to rinse clothes in After the clean clothes were threaded through the wringer!

Next