Happy Bachelor Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 My mushroom vents are baddly tarnished (brass) is there any products or better still kitchen cupboard products that will remove the tarnish without hours of polishing? Also what do you guys and galls use for your glass in the fire front? Many thanks Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Ambrose Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Brown sauce, glass? dunno Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftycarper Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 My mushroom vents are baddly tarnished (brass) is there any products or better still kitchen cupboard products that will remove the tarnish without hours of polishing? Also what do you guys and galls use for your glass in the fire front? Many thanks Gary . Glass and brass, just dip a wet rag in the fire ash and give it some elbow grease all shiny and sorted Brown sauce, glass? dunno. Phil . It's the vinager content of the sauce that does the cleaning so any vinegar based product also rough cider has a similar acid content and works well if you soak stuff in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray T Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 (edited) Bar keepers friend, but it is mildly abrasive. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/8868/Bar-Keepers-Friend?src=mpcle&s_kwcid=AL!49!3!{creative}!e!{placement}!{network}!!bar%20keepers%20friend%20cleaner&ef_id=VJ1AkgAABG2YFDde:20141226110346:s Edited December 26, 2014 by Ray T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave moore Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Bar Keeper's friend for me too, mix to a white paste, apply, leave, remove, repeat if necessary and then finish with Brasso or whatever. An alternative is to buy a polishing mop and some " soap" , fit the mop into a drill and off you go. Good luck! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChimneyChain Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Washing up liquid and very fine wire wool then finish off with Brasso. Darren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Richmond Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I have a big round polishing wheel for my drill... Newspaper and fire ash on the glass... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.i Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 When I did mine a couple of years ago they were tarnished to the point of being nearly black. As an ex military person I'm afraid that my idea of brass goes against the grain of some on here, which is leave well alone and let the verdigris build, I like my brass shiny. It took me nearly 2 weeks to get mine to a point where I found them acceptable. Copius amounts of brasso and T Cut, which is a slightly more abrasive than brasso, and then fine wire wool. If I had had a polishing wheel for my bench grinder it would have made the job a lot easier and quicker. I have one now so next time it should only take an hour or so. I also put laquer on after I had got them bright and shiny and that has lasted a year or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Another vote for fire ash on the glass. Moisten paper, dip in fine ash, rub glass, polish of with clean paper. Job done. I also hail from the school of shiny military brasswork. Solvol (of Autosol fame) do a marine polish which is good for deeper cleaning, but I find what the military call Wadpol (aka wadding polish of which Duraglit is one brand) to be quickest and easiest for a regular spruce up clean. I'm not a fan of laquered brass as the effort required to restore once the laquer fails in more than the effort to maintain the bare metal itself imho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Bachelor Posted December 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Fantastic some great advice thank you all!! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.i Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Yes I have only used the laquer on my mushrooms because they were such an absolute pig to get anywhere near acceptable I couldn't face them again for a while. To be honest I only put a couple of coats on of the spray stuff and that does seem to come off quite easily with a fine wire wool. I do not use laquer inside the boat. Those brasses just get a good clean every couple of weeks or so. Yep Duraglit is good once the brass is up to a good shine but I found Brasso and and that sort of stuff not aggressive enough initially. Every one is saying about ash and newspaper and those sorts of things which are fine once the brass is starting to come clean but when the brass is as bad as mine was initially that wouldn't have touched it. I had to use a coarse emery paper and coarse wire wool at first which did get rid of the thick verdigris but, of course, left scratches in the brass. That is where a decent polishing wheel would have been handy at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saltysplash Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Cilit Bang then brasso then laquer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain birdseye Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Barmaid friend made into a paste using lemon juice, or just lemon juice on it's own if not too tarnished. Assuming you can afford to waste a lemon and still have some for your g&t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 (edited) Yes I have only used the laquer on my mushrooms because they were such an absolute pig to get anywhere near acceptable I couldn't face them again for a while. To be honest I only put a couple of coats on of the spray stuff and that does seem to come off quite easily with a fine wire wool. I do not use laquer inside the boat. Those brasses just get a good clean every couple of weeks or so. Yep Duraglit is good once the brass is up to a good shine but I found Brasso and and that sort of stuff not aggressive enough initially. Every one is saying about ash and newspaper and those sorts of things which are fine once the brass is starting to come clean but when the brass is as bad as mine was initially that wouldn't have touched it. I had to use a coarse emery paper and coarse wire wool at first which did get rid of the thick verdigris but, of course, left scratches in the brass. That is where a decent polishing wheel would have been handy at the time. And the thing about good quality solid brasswork is that you could practically have started with a grinder! Going through those stages of coarseness means you can bring back some pretty neglected brightwork - which it sounds like you did! Finally, a use for all those boot bulling skills! ETA typo Edited December 26, 2014 by Sea Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I have read that covering them with clingfilm helps keep them shiny. I found paint to be the ideal solution, but not to every bodies taste obviously. That said I would never have roof vents on a future boat anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cariad Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 I spent hours with a sander, then hours with brasso to get them really shiny. 2 months later got fed up with using brasso, so I painted them. Should have painted them in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 That said I would never have roof vents on a future boat anyway. Can that be done? I believe the BSS says you must have a percentage of high and low level vent of a capacity based on a formula, but can you get the high level other than through roof vents? I'm not onboard today, otherwise I'd pop my head out to see if there's any boats around without roof vents. It's an interesting concept as the smooth line would certainly be nice, and it might be common as muck and I've just never noticed, but I'm sure someone on here will know.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Can that be done? I believe the BSS says you must have a percentage of high and low level vent of a capacity based on a formula, but can you get the high level other than through roof vents? I'm not onboard today, otherwise I'd pop my head out to see if there's any boats around without roof vents. It's an interesting concept as the smooth line would certainly be nice, and it might be common as muck and I've just never noticed, but I'm sure someone on here will know.. My friend has had no roof vents on two narrow boats now. He satisfied the Boat safety man at the time of inspection by having a top hopper window of sufficient size fixed in the open position (only advisory now I think?). I assume high level door vents would be OK too. I hate roof vents because I trip over them, get centre lines around them, they drip with condensation, water splashes in during heavy rain storms, are butt ugly (IMHO,) and spoil a good roof. Never again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeping Up Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 Our boat has a couple of roof vents, made of steel instead of brass so they don't need polishing, which met the ventilation requirements when the boat was built but didn't meet them after a few years. Luckily our BSS inspector was happy to recommend that we merely needed to fix one of the hoppers open with a couple of screws and add a small label saying "ventilator, do not close". Of course it is now not compulsory, and the vents only fail to meet the requirements if the stove is alight so I confess that between inspections I remove the screws and on cold spring or autumn evenings I close the hopper and then I don't need to light the stove. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander1618 Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 cut a lemon in half, sprinkle on a generous amount of salt and rub it on the brass. then finish up with brasso. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philjw Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 For the stove glass I have found WD40 really effective. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 26, 2014 Report Share Posted December 26, 2014 For the stove glass I have found WD40 really effective. Phil Nice one, will try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnetman Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Not while the fire is burning WD40 was even better than hairspray as a flame thrower I seem to remember from years ago (25} maybe they changed it but I wouldn't use it near my lit stove, and it stinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Dog Posted December 27, 2014 Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 Interesting to hear of boats with no top vents; I'll keep an eye out for their sleek, trip-hazard free cabin tops! We should start a thread on things WD40 doesn't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Bachelor Posted December 27, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2014 I used the fire ash and paper as suggested the results are fantastic even with high resin logs! I will try the brass solutions next time it's dry. Just a thought I wonder if soaking the roof vents in cola would work it certainly rots your teeth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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