Cleaning Brass Drawer Pulls

I pulled brass Chippendale drawer pulls off an old 1960s dresser. The pulls had years and years of tarnish. So much so, I wasn't quite sure they were brass. I pulled out my trusty magnet and the magnet was not attracted to the pulls. Definitely brass. They were ugly and needed cleaning desperately. I wish I had a picture of what they looked like, but trust me, they were horribly tarnished.

I had heard that letting them soak in vinegar works to remove tarnish. It didn't work for me. A little came off, but definitely not enough to notice much shine.

This is what worked.

I do not get paid for recommending this product. 

It worked well, but it was not easy. I let the pulls soak in warm water mixed with BKF for over an hour in a plastic tub. Then I pulled out each one and scubbed each vigorously with a toothbrush and BKF paste I mixed together. Each pull took at least 5 minutes to clean, but the gunk came off. 

This is what my work surface looked like when I was through. See all the dark tarnish that came off? Yuck!

I had 8 pulls to clean. Minus the soaking time, it took me at least 45 minutes of scrubbing to get all of them looking like this.

Real brass is actually quite pretty.