Brass Door Handles – How to Keep Them Shining Like New

A brass door handle looks beautiful when it is new and shiny. It adds up to the beauty of the home, but when brass door handles start gathering dirt and stain, the attractiveness of the handle is lost and what remains is something we do not wish to fix our eyes on. This defeat the purpose of having elegant brass handles in your home.

If the brass handles in your home have started looking dirty and stained, there is a piece of good news for you, the past glory of brass door handles can be restored and they can be made to shine like new brass handles. There is no need to replace your existing door handle, unless you want to upgrade the style.

 

Making your old brass door handles shine like new

Before beginning the cleaning up process, you should determine the nature of stain on the brass fittings, and choose the cleaning process suitable for the purpose. If you have to remove tarnish from the brass door handles to make it attractive, you would need the following materials:

1. 2 pieces of cloth
2. White vinegar
3. Lemon Juice
4. Salt

Take a piece of cloth and soak it in white vinegar or lemon juice. Add some salt to it as well. Use this cloth to wipe the door handle which needs cleaning. After that you should rinse the cloth in plain water to remove traces of white vinegar/ lemon juice from the cloth. Wring it and use this cloth to remove traces of white vinegar/ lemon juice from the door handle.

Take another piece of soft cloth (dry one) and clean the brass handle. Use this cloth to burnish the brass door handle until it shines.

If there is no tarnish and you just need to do regular cleaning, or remove the dirt or stubborn stain from the brass door handles, you can use the following:

1. Warm water
2. Dish soap
3. Two pieces of cloths
4. A brush

To clean stubborn stain or deposited dust off the brass door handles, you need a bucket of warm water. Mix a small amount of dish soap in the warm water and dip a cloth in it. Wring the cloth out and wipe the brass handle with the soapy cloth.

Now take a brush, dip it into the soapy water and scrub the door handle to remove stubborn dirt and stains. Now wipe the handle with soapy cloth. Then use fresh water to rinse the cloth. Wring the cloth and wipe out any soap remaining on the brass door handle. Afterward, use a dry soft cloth to dry the handle.

These are the two effective ways to clean the brass door handles. As said, before using any of the ways, you must find out the nature of dirt deposit or stain because excessive cleaning may discolor your fixture, particularly when it is “brass quoted”. Cleaning of brass door handles will restore the lost glory of your door fixtures, and it may save you some money. So before you go for a new set, you should consider cleaning the existing one, unless you want to change the design.

Types of Vintage Brass Knobs You Should Consider

Vintage brass knobs are and will always remain in high demand. The beauty and craftsmanship of vintage brass door knobs do not fail to entice home owners, who strive to get the best for their homes. The class and elegance of vintage door knobs cannot be matched by any of the available brass knobs. Ask any person of refined taste, and he will vouch for it.

Types of vintage brass knobs

There are many types of vintage brass door knobs available in the market, many of which are real classic and can be used in any home of any type, but some of them are not that open for association, so doesn’t look good on all kinds of doors and houses.

When deciding on buying a brass knob you need to focus on the finishes of the knob as well. You need to decide if you need Antique Brass, Oil-rubbed Bronze, Polished Brass, Polished Chrome, or Satin Nickel, etc., finish on the brass knob. I would suggest you to keep this in mind before going out for purchasing door knobs.

When purchasing brass door knobs, you should always go for the one which is made of solid brass and not just brass-quoted because door knobs of latter type does not last long, and the quoting may fade after some use, or at times after cleaning.

 

All-brass knobs

There are some brass knobs that are made of 100% brass, without any other element used in it. This gives a real vintage feel. Pure brass knobs come with some beautiful engravings. They give a royal feel to the door.

 

Brass knobs with crystal top

Another type of common brass knob that is quite famous is the one that comes with a colorful or white crystal top  (the portion which we turn to open or close the door). When a ray of light falls on the crystal part, the ray of light shimmers making the crystal shine like diamond. Crystal-top brass knob is a jewel, which beautify the door.

It looks even more elegant when the brass portion, which makes the bottom of such door knobs are beautifully carved. I have seen one that had a brass-base (knob backplate) resembling wheel of a chariot.

 

Wooden-top brass knobs

All brass door knobs do not come with glass or brass top alone. People use all kind of different materials, but the one that I personally liked the most had a wooden top. There are all kinds of wooden tops that people are using in brass knobs, but my favorite is a black-colored knob with light engraving, or one with wood finished, light though.

When buying vintage brass knobs you should also focus your attention on the era from which it comes, if you wish to buy original vintage brass knobs. There are many counterfeit in the market, you should be watchful of them. There are many more types of vintage brass door knobs available, and it could be purchased from the Internet, from the comfort of your home, without being greasy because of going out in sun fretting around in the market.