Citrus Acid Brass wash

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

So I've always been a bit annoyed how nice shiny brass will tarnish over time. I'm not sure what the factory does to their brass to coat it and keep it shiny, but in researching this I ran into discussions on Citrus Acid treatment of brass.

Supposedly, it cleans the brass without weakening it but also it "passivates" the brass making it more resilient to tarnishing. Here's a deeper discussion on this... it seems very simple, cheap and straight forward.

castboolits.gunloads.c...ss-cleaner

Anyone here treat their brass with citric acid?

-DallanC

gelandangan · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:35 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

LOL I have been using citric acid for years now, and when I introduced it here I was met with high skepticism . . and the usual off topic discussions.. Laughing

www.huntingnut.com/ind...itric+acid

Yeah they are awesome

Azar · Member Joined: Jan 04, 2010 Posts: 275 Location: Utah

I heard about it some years back but never tried it, as I eventually got a tumbler and never bothered with another wet cleaning method. Don't know why it bothered me so much but I always hated waiting for brass to dry or attempting to quick dry it in a warm oven.

It's always nice to have a backup, "low-tech" method though.

MacD · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 8:05 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

I use citric acid in an ultrasonic case cleaner. I add some deyergent to help get off the powder residue. It works well cleaning both inside and outside of the case. When I really want bling level shiny I then polish with superfine steel wool using the case holder and stud I have for trimming cases. BTW the cheapest place I have found to buy citric acid was in a home wine makers shop.

Aloysius · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:28 am Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

when citric acid works, then I would expect oxalic acid to work better. So try rubarb instead of lemon...

gelandangan · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 3:00 am Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

Aloy, I think Oxalic acid would leach zinc out of the brass and weaken it.

Dawgdad · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 8:30 am Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

Lemishine!!

The hard water spot remover is a hydrate of Citric acid and does very well. The commercial brass processors who use Stainless steel pins and detergent/water method add lemishine to the final rinse. The results from this type of cleaning process are spectacular. The brass I get that was cleaned using SS pins and Dawn and Lemishine are a mirror finish inside and out including the primer pockets and stay that way for a long time.

We use Citric Acid cleaning solutions in the Pharma industry too.

Bushmaster · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 10:19 am Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

Lyman Turbo 1200. Fine ground corncob mixed with a bit of chromium oxide. Cap full of Nu-Finish car wax. I do not have a tarnish problem. Now granted...My brass is still "dirty" on the inside, but who's looking at the inside?

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Bushmaster wrote:

Lyman Turbo 1200. Fine ground corncob mixed with a bit of chromium oxide. Cap full of Nu-Finish car wax. I do not have a tarnish problem. Now granted...My brass is still "dirty" on the inside, but who's looking at the inside?

I was more looking at reducing tarnish on loaded rounds that sit in a box for a time. The citric acid is supposed to change the brass and make it harder to tarnish... was just curious who used it, and apparently quite a few do.

I still tumble w/ corn but this might be a simple post step.

-DallanC

Dawgdad · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:36 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

I get spoiled with results like this.

Bushmaster · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 12:58 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

Yup, understand, but...I hate waiting for brass to dry, even using the wife's oven.

Nice primer pockets, but your brass is no brighter then mine after tumbling. I do have to clean my primer pockets by hand, but I still have 28 years left.

And I have a friend that calls ME anal...

Azar · Member Joined: Jan 04, 2010 Posts: 275 Location: Utah

DallanC wrote:

I was more looking at reducing tarnish on loaded rounds that sit in a box for a time.

How long of a time and how much tarnish are we talking about?

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

Year or two and pretty rough feeling. I dont really want to vac pack ammo.

-DallanC

MacD · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

Two photos. Both are 45 ACP cases. Both from a batch of military cases I first cleaned in August of 2012. One picture is four cases that were re-cleaned today. In both instances cleaning was done in an ultrasonic cleaner using a mixture of 1 tsp of citric acid per cup of water. The first cleaning also included a few drops of concentrated detergent. Cases are flushed after cleaning with hot water and dried in the clothes dryer in a light canvas bag. Cases were stored in a ziplock bag.

Bushmaster · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2015 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Citrus Acid Brass wash

I'm with Azar...How much tarnish are we talking about.

I loaded these 5 years ago and they have been setting on my loading bench ever sense.