Home Mar 01, 2023

How To Clean Copper

Copper pots, mugs and home decor items are both trappy and functional. Exposing your copper to everyday use like water, cooking oils and plane air can rationalization it to tarnish or patina.

Patina is when a untried or brown mucosa appears on the surface of metals like copper, brass, or silver. When copper patinas, it can naturally wilt darker or spotted, and in some cases it can develop a beautiful turquoise patina.

Many people embrace the natural patina of copper, but what if you want to restore it to its original shining finish? There are many ways to wipe copper, bringing it when to its former glory.

In this post, I will show examples of many of the most popular cleaning solutions for copper, including vinegar, lemon juice, sultry soda, ketchup, and cleaners like Bar Keepers Friend.

You will be worldly-wise to see the results and segregate which one is weightier for you and hopefully find a solution to use with ingredients you once have at home.

Before whence my tests, I unsupportable that the chemical-based cleaner would perform the best—but I was shocked by the results and will never go back!

Cleaning Copper Pots with Vinegar

In a cup, mix 2 tablespoons salt, 2 tablespoons flour and unbearable white vinegar to create a paste.

Use a spoon or your finger to spread the paste over the copper surface you want to clean. Use a wet reticulum to rub it off and rinse with water when you are done.

As you can see below, the results of this method are amazing. As soon as I unromantic the paste, the verisimilitude began to transpiration instantly. For visionless spots, do a second using and indulge it to sit a few minutes surpassing wiping off.

My review of this method is a 10/10 considering these are ingredients I unchangingly have on hand, the results were unconfined and I was worldly-wise to stave any harsh chemicals. If you have these ingredients, this is the first method I would recommend trying!

Cleaning Copper with Lemon Juice and Sultry Soda

The next method I wanted to try is lemon juice with sultry soda. I was very optimistic well-nigh this method considering the ingredients have worked unconfined for me in other cleaning contexts.

The results, however, were pretty disappointing. You can see in the second image that the sultry soda makes a big rainbow mess (be sure to do this in a sink). I mixed equal parts fresh lemon juice and sultry soda.

Once the frothing settled, the mixture was very watery, so I tried pouring it directly on the surface and rubbing it on using a paper towel.

I would rate this method a 4/10. You can see that it did make some verisimilitude transpiration on the surface of the copper, but it did not wipe tightly the way the vinegar versions did.

I would only recommend this method if you don’t have any of the other ingredients on hand.

Cleaning Copper with Ketchup

I tried cleaning copper with ketchup. I had seen this washed-up before, so I unsupportable it would work. But I was curious how it would compare to the vinegar method.

I squirted some ketchup directly onto the copper and spread it on the surface with my finger. I let it sit on the copper for a full minute surpassing scrubbing it with a reticulum and rinsing it.

This method worked great! If you want a slightly increasingly subtle cleaning that leaves increasingly patina texture, I would recommend it. It is not as powerful as the vinegar method, but it works really well.

I moreover love that ketchup is an easy ingredient to find and many of us once have it on hand! 8/10

Cleaning Copper with Bar Keepers Friend

I have used Bar Keepers Friend many times in the past to wipe my copper pots. They make a liquid and a powder version, which is useful for variegated things. I like that it is constructive and fast.

I don’t love that it has harmful ingredients and is not unscratched to alimony virtually a kid-friendly house. It’s important to use gloves while cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend.

Before trying these other methods, I fully expected Bar Keepers Friend to be the well-spoken winner. After doing this test, I can honestly say that the vinegar mixture works just as well for cleaning copper.

So while Bar Keepers Friend is fully effective, you have to be sure to wear gloves and alimony it stored safely yonder from small children. It cleans equally well, but is increasingly toxic, so I requite it a 7/10.

One last good thing well-nigh Bar Keepers friend is that it cleans many variegated types of surfaces. I unquestionably use it to remove small stains from my quartz countertops.

I hope this post has provided you with increasingly than one good option for cleaning your copper at home. Let us know in the comments if you have a method that has worked well for you!