How To Polish Old Copper Pipes

Liberally apply ketchup to all your copper and let sit for 20 minutes.

How to polish old copper pipes. Selvyt cloth is used by professionals. If you want to clean the pipes back to their shiny copper finish you can use any of the copper cleaning recipes we have given you above. If your copper has a shiny finish on it wipe the surface with a soft cloth dipped into a solution of water with a squirt of mild dish soap.

Probably the most used method is to rub the pipe with a salted lemon and allow it to sit for a few minutes before cleaning the lemon juice and salt off. Copper is a good conductor and will therefore conduct that heat quite efficiently from the corner youre torching to the opposite corner youre holding it by. One thing to keep in mind is if there are any fittings in the lines that old boiler pipes were probably soldered with lead.

Or posh pipes that had to be seen - like in georgian. If only a little is used there is less to fill nooks and crannies. Make your own copper cleaner to avoid the harsh chemicals and expense of commercial copper cleaners.

Just use self cleanin flux on the outside and wash it off after. The salt acts as a scouring agent to help loosen it. As ketchup or tomato paste its already at the ideal consistency.

Just rub it in with a clean rag let sit briefly then polish rinse and dry. Its magic how it immediately removes the tarnish. There really isnt any good way to make the fittings lead free excpet cutting them out.

Cut the lemon in half and dip it into the salt. We used to use. Use this to scour the tarnish off the copper.