[NovelsRus]

Salaams, Ibrahim,

Long time no talk to! How have you been keeping? How's the shop going? I know you're especially busy this time of year, so I'll try to be brief. Unfortunately, I am a novelist (i.e., a windbag), so please bear with me.

Ibrahim, in your business, do you have much dealing with older copper, bronze, brass or silver materials? I've lately begun collecting ancient Viking relics from the Baltic region, where they first began sailing around raiding their neighbors and acting like outlaw bikers of the sea, back in the 7th Century. As a result, I'm dealing with a lot of truly ancient, long-buried items that are as much as 1200-1300 years old. You can imagine what they look like by the time I see them. Most don't even resemble the items they used to be (jewelry, flints, arrowheads, etc.) I'll attach a couple of Before and After photos of some Viking rings I bought recently, so you can see what these old pieces can turn into after the right amount of massaging, rubbing and begging.

So, my question, good sir, is this: Do you know of any do-it-yourself, home recipes for cleaning ancient bronze, brass or copper? I'm looking for something you can whip together in your own kitchen that's inexpensive, effective, yet gentle (especially on brass). Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance, my friend, for any advice you might have.

Sincerely,

John, i.e., NovelsRus