What is the best way to clean old brass

Hi I bought an old antique ARP WW2 brass bell which I got very cheap but it is very dirty and has blue oxidation in places. I don't want to over clean it but just enough to where it looks more presentable.

I've been googling various threads on brass cleaning but nothing is working.

Thanks.

 

Have you tried tomato ketchup ?

Has worked well for me before

You could try a little area and see

 

I'm wary of ketchup, it can colour the metal. Brown sauce is better.

Did you try Brasso? The other thing is lemon juice mixed with salt.

 

I have Brasso but I find that to be more of a polish than a cleaner and polishing over dirt and corrosion wouldn't be much good. I want to stay away from things like ketchup because I remember trying to clean an old coin and it turned green and made things worse.

I've tried WD40 which got some dirt off but not much. I may try some dish soap and a soft toothbrush and warm water then dry it and then put some Brasso on it.

 

Hi,
If you want to clean a coin safely let it soak in olive oil for several days or weeks. Your bell perhaps has lacquering on some of it. I would remove the lacquer and then polish it with something like Never Dull.
greg

 

It doesn't look like there is any lacquering on it, I don't think ARP bells ever had any lacquer on them, I've never seen any with it on. I'm using bicycle oil on it to get rid of the rust on the chain and the clapper ball, there is blue corrosion around the inside of the bell. I've managed to get it cleaner but not as clean as it could be, it may take some time. I might just leave it soaking in oil for a few days to see it if takes care of the rust on the clapper and the blue corrosion on the brass bell it might loosen it enough scrub it off.

 

I think this is the cleanest its going to get, I have wiped of the oil, it looks much better than it did. I wish I had taken a 'before photo' of it. I haven't put any Brasso on it yet.

Here is a photo of it.