04 Dec How to Clean and Care for Copper and Brass landscape lighting fixtures
By Mike Gambino
Clean the finish and Enhance the color and luster of your outdoor lighting fixtures with these tips for using both natural and store-bought cleaners.
Lauded for its beauty and ability to stand up to the elements of mother nature and resist rust. Copper is the material of choice for serious landscape lighters. This rosy-colored metal darkens with age and requires regular maintenance to stay clean. Patina develops almost immediately when placed outdoors and restoring it’s like-new luster is usually not desirable in the garden. Mother nature’s antiquing process can be enhanced and colors deepened by following these processes.
What Not to Use
You should avoid using harsh detergents that don’t treat the metal kindly. Also you should not be using cleaners that contain bleach because it can be corrosive and cause the soft metal to pit, resulting in a scarred, pockmarked surface.
Pretty Fixtures
Although it’s possible to maintain copper’s like-new appearance with regular cleaning and polishing, most appreciate the warm, darkened glow of a finish with a natural antique patina appearance.
A patina, also called verdigris, is a darkening to a mahogany color or bluish greening of the copper, depending upon the salt content of ambient air, fertilizers that may come into contact with the finish of your fixtures and other atmospheric and environmental conditions in which your fixtures reside.
Before attempting any cleaning of your copper and brass lighting fixtures, protect your hands with rubber gloves that are thin enough to still allow tactile feel but will not break leaving your hands exposed to cleaning products that may irritate your skin.
- To remove any verdigris on an un stain finished fixture, use a vinegar-salt solution or rub the metal with lemon sprinkled with salt. Rinse and dry the fixture. Try to contain the liquid waste so it doesn’t contaminate soils and harm local plants.
For cleaning of surfaces that are heavily soiled or may show signs of bird droppings or other nasty debris, scrub lightly with a piece of light-gauge steel wool or fine metal sandpaper, then rub it lightly with vegetable oil. - Commercially available Copper Cleaning Creams/polishes
Copperbrill is a cleaning paste for copper surfaces. Mauviel and de Buyer are two popular brands. How often you use the paste depends on the look desired. To create a nice patina, you need to clean with the paste only occasionally.
Here’s how to use the paste:- First, clean the surface of the fixture thoroughly. Use a soft bristle brush to remove tough buildup
- Then, using a soft sponge or cloth, rub a small amount of the paste all over the copper surface.
- Next, remove the paste with a towel that will not leave fibers or pieces of the towel behind.
- Buff the surface to bring out deepened and enhanced colors and the natural beauty of a mottled copper finish
Other products to check out include: Wright’s Copper (Brown) Cream Polish; Twinkle Brass & Copper Cleaning Kit; and Hagerty Heavy Duty Copper, Brass & Metal Polish.
Cleaning Alternatives
Mix kosher salt with lemon juice in a small bowl to make a paste. Kosher salt is better because it has bigger crystals, then scrub it and clean off with a microfiber towel.
Put a dab of ketchup on the copper to be cleaned and rub it in a circular motion with a microfiber cloth. It cleans right away. Lemon juice and baking soda:Combine a few tablespoons of lemon juice with 1 tablespoon of baking soda and rub the mixture on the copper until the grime begins to come off. Then polish with a clean cloth.
Vinegar and salt:Pour vinegar and salt over the copper. Rub in and keep rubbing until the tarnish comes off. Rinse and polish with a clean, dry cloth.
Once surface is clean, to enhance the natural color of copper, wipe it with a dab of vegetable oil.
If you’re hesitant to give any of these home remedies a try, try it on a copper penny first.
If this sounds like too much work we can do it for you. Just mention to us prior to a service of your Gambino landscape lighting systems Hourly labor and materials cost apply.
This landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.Gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .
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