How do I clean pitted and tarnished brass lamps?
by Bogey's mom
How do I clean solid brass lamps that are pitted and tarnished and have a "protective" sealer coat on them? These are Stiffel lamps guaranteed to NEVER tarnish or pit! I called the manufacturer but could not get any help other than return the lamps to them for cleaning and rewiring. They would ONLY charge me $1,200/lamp!!!!!! Hopefully, someone has a less expensive method!
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I would fight it a little harder with the manufacturer. If they guarantee then they should honor it. How disappointing.
Omg. Do you have a local polishing co in your town, should only be about $200 each. It's almost impossible to get them like new again without having them prod done. The hardest part will be to remove the protection. Do test areas, first start with lacquer thinner, if doesn't work try stripper. Once off use brass cleaner and a buffer . Good luck.
It was back in the 90's but a Stiffel salesman told me that Stiffel lamps are not solid brass. Put a magnet against your lamps to be sure they are indeed brass and not steel plated brass. If you have solid brass then you can use acetone (nail polish remover) to remove the lacquer, clean and polish the brass and then reseal with lacquer. I have only done this to a small brass lamp base and I did not reseal the metal, so every now and then I have to clean the lamp base to make it shine again. I would not want to do that to a pair of larger lamps.