Brass fixtures, whether in your living room, bathroom, bedroom, dining room, or kitchen, add to your house’s charm and overall interior design. Brass’s unique character adds to your home’s rustic, classic, and elegant look. Some people are not bothered by the occasional tarnish and discoloration of brass materials. For others, this is considered unsightly.
Tarnish and discoloration becomes noticeable if you have a brass faucet. Do you know an easy way how to clean a brass faucet? Before we go deeper into the tips and tricks, let us first answer the question: what is a kitchen faucet? Find out here.
What is a brass kitchen faucet?
It may sound like a no-brainer question to many people. A kitchen faucet is installed in your sink to control water flow. While this definition is true, the kitchen faucet concept takes a bigger meaning when you realize just how important its role is.
Think about how many times you use the kitchen faucet in your house. You use it for cooking, washing dishes, watering plants, or bathing the baby. On average, every hour spent in the living room equals five hours in the kitchen. See how busy a kitchen can get?
You need an efficient kitchen faucet to supply water for a kitchen to function well. Imagine a broken faucet at home. Where is the next available faucet? In the bathroom? Will you bring your food to wash there?
Kitchen faucets come in different types. There are one-handled types, two-handled models, and hands-free features. Depending on your daily use, you can choose a model best suitable for your household.
You can also choose a suitable height for your faucet. High arches are best used if your household often uses large pots for cooking. A low arc faucet is good enough for most kitchens for regular dishwashing.
If you want to match the overall interior look of your home, you can opt for brass kitchen faucets. But since they are always wet, brass faucets tend to discolor and look old. Rust will not eat it up, but constant water exposure can tarnish its shiny surface. What can you do about it?
How To Clean A Brass Faucet
Try these four tips and tricks to keep your brass faucet looking new and shiny. However, please be reminded to wear gloves when you clean brass faucets. Some brass cleaning chemicals can harm and hurt your skin. Also, the oil in your hands can leave marks on the faucet. Wear gloves when cleaning.
1. Wipe-down routine
The easiest way to clean a brass faucet is to wipe it down and keep it dry after every use. Keep regular wipe-downs a part of your daily chore. It is the cheapest way to keep your faucet looking new. Don’t use abrasive materials or scrubs. It will cause scratches on your faucet. If a damp cloth
does not work, soak the cloth in warm, soapy water and wipe the brass faucet. Make sure to dry it off. This will avoid dirt and residue build-up.
2. Chemical brass cleaners
You can check stores for available brass cleaners. There are cheap and expensive ones. Read the instructions carefully because some chemicals can remove light tarnishes. Others require special applications to remove heavy build-up. You can bring a picture of your brass faucet and ask a store attendant to help you pick the right cleaning agent.
3. Ketchup trick
The citric acid found in Ketchup products can do miracles on your brass faucet. Apply a small ketchup on a damp cloth and wipe it on the faucet’s surface. Use a clean cloth to wipe the ketchup off. Rinse with water to remove any residue. Make sure to dry it off afterward.
4. DIY cleaning paste
An easy brass cleaner paste can be found in your cupboard. Mix one teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup of distilled vinegar, and 3 tbsp flour. Dissolve the salt in vinegar and add the flour to make a paste. Wipe it on the surface of the brass faucet and leave it for 10 minutes. Wipe it off with a dry cloth. Your brass faucet will look as good and shiny as new.
You Can Clean a Brass Faucet in No Time
Keeping your brass faucet spick and span is not tricky. All you need is regular wipe-downs and occasional brass cleaners if the build-up has become troublesome.
My biggest bathroom pet peeve is the fact that any smooth surface catches the water drop marks and finger prints within hours from the last cleanup. Ah well.
very informative post. keep faucet Clean is very important and we can do this in easy ways as you mentioned.
Thanks a lot.