Things to know about lacquered brass

Brass is a wonderful metal for decorative elements, but it has a tendency of tarnishing. The longer it stays open in air, the quicker it gets tarnished. This is exactly why this metal is lacquered, especially when they are in the form of decorative piece. While lacquering is so common in brass, most of the people don’t know about lacquering and there are other sets of brass users who can’t differentiate between lacquered or non- lacquered brass.

For people who don’t know about lacquering, it is a process of adding a coating of lacquer on brass. This prevents air getting to the brass that in turn prevents tarnishing. Some brass decorative item manufacturers use polymer or plastic coating to prevent tarnishing. But any coating doesn’t last forever. Time may come when you will find coated or lacquered brass losing its shine. When it happens, mark it that is an alarming sign that means the coating is worn off and air is passing to the metal. If that happens, you would need to strip the metal, clean them and reapply the coating. Or else, if you do not want the coating anymore, keep it as it is and perform periodic cleaning.

Even if you get the metal item coated, you will have to clean them time to time. Remember, lacquer protects the metal from tarnishing, not dirt. To make them look as beautiful as ever, wipe the item with dry soft cotton cloth. If necessary you can use mild or diluted utensil cleaner to remove sticky dirt that are tough to remove when dry. Being little informed about brass lacquering can keep your decorative items shining and beautiful forever.