You might have cleaned tarnished brass household items with acetone, lemon, vinegar, acid and many other cleaning elements available in market, but have you ever tried to clean tarnished brass with tomato ketchup? Sounds strange, right? Brass element has tendency to lose oxidized layer after reacting with any acidic elements. Tomato has bleach or acid like nature which when used on brass item can remove oxidized layer. 

Here is a step by procedure to shine tarnished brass items:

• Step 1: Put the item in a container, preferably in plastic container.
• Step 2: Apply the surface with ketchup. If ketchup is not available Tabasco sauce or Worcestershire sauce will also work.
• Step 3: Leave it for minimum 2 hours then place it under cool running water and scrub with a scrubber containing mild dishwashing liquid.
• Step 4: Rinse it off with clean cool water and dry with soft cotton towel to avoid scratch.
• Step 5: To minimize the rate of tarnishing, pour few drops of olive oil then rub with cotton cloth.
• Step 6: For long lasting shine and to protect the finish, apply multiple coats of car wax paste.

This method is quite useful when no other element is available at home to clean up brass items. Ketchup is something you can always find in your kitchen. For regular items used in kitchen or for decorative purposes, this method can work effectively. For excessively delicate item, it is better to use advised method in the given booklet. Try out this method for your decorative items the next time you don’t find lemon or vinegar at home.

If your job requires you to work extensively with metal and you are silly enough to do so without the use of the proper safety equipment, one of the injuries that you may be forced to deal with is getting metal in your eye. Whilst it is recommended that you seek professional medical attention for these injuries as soon as possible, you may be able to begin first aid yourself.

First, you will need to decide whether it is safe for you to attempt first aid or whether you should just leave it. If the metals (like brass ,copper or steel) shard is embedded in your eye or is affecting your vision, you should leave it for the professionals. The same goes for if the injury is a result of hammering or grinding.

If you think that it is safe for you to attempt first aid, you will need to wash your hands thoroughly. Then, try and spot the metal shard. Pull your lower eyelid down; look left to right, up and down. Pull your upper eyelid up; look left to right, up and down.

Once you spot the metal shard, you should try flushing it out, but only if it is floating on your eye’s surface. Fill a small glass with a saline solution (or warm water). Then, put your head down, place the glass at the base of your eye socket and tilt your head back slowly. You may need to repeat this process.

If you have been unsuccessful in removing the metal shard from your eye, it is imperative that you immediately make your way to a doctor or even the emergency room. If you think that you have removed the shard but notice that your eye is still irritated or red, you should also seek medical attention as soon as possible.

If you have time and tools, you can earn extra money by collecting and selling scrap copper wires. But for that you should know the ways to prepare them for sale. It is not hard to get copper wires around, but they cannot be sold in their original form. They have to be prepared by removing the insulation. Though the task is labor-intensive and time–consuming but can add value to your scrap. Here is a step solution to remove insulation of the scrap wire.

Step 1: If you have long pieces of copper wire, hold its one end in a vice, then using a pocket knife slice the insulation and peel them off. For smaller pieces of wire, use wire stripper to peel off insulation. But make sure when you are doing this, you wear gloves.

Step 2: Keep a watch on price offered in the commodity as they fluctuate broadly. Sometime rate changes within a month. So keep an eye.

Step 3: When you have enough amount of scrap to sell, find a local scrap processing specialist having certified scales.

Step 4: Carry your picture ID while visiting the buyer. These days, buyers ask for IDs to discourage copper theft which have increasingly become common in recent times.

Make sure when you are collecting copper scrap you store them in a safe place. If you are storing them in your garage, ensure you keep it locked all the time. Collect a large amount of scrap copper wire and wait till the price really goes high, so that you get a good return. 

Gone are those days when shiny brass items used to rule the market, it is an era of antique brass. You might have spent hours to shine your sculptures and decorative items, but not anymore because this is now an old story. While antique metals is slowly capturing the market, they are quite expensive and might not be affordable for everyone. If you want to have one such thing in your living room and your pocket doesn’t allow, then you shouldn’t disappoint. Use the given below tips to make your own antique brass item at home.

• Take any brass item you want to convert into antique, then remove protective layer of varnish from its surface. You can do it using acetone or varnish remover. In case, the brass piece is small in size you can remover varnish boiling it in water for few minutes.
• Take a brush, dip into a cup of vinegar and apply it on the entire surface of the item. Now leave for some time until it turns into a real antique piece. Vinegar will catch oxygen and allow brass to oxidize faster.
• Another method you can use it painting the brass metal surface with salty water. This is a good alternative of vinegar but take a little bit more time. However, the result of antiquity you will get is nothing less than an effect created by vinegar.

You can try these methods with any items. Rather spending umpteen grand, it is good idea to get an antique piece right at home. It doesn’t take much effort and time, and the result you get is simply awesome.