I found these brass lamps at one of my flea market/junk excursions. I loved the shape and they had the original globes, which I thought was pretty cool. The price was $4.00 for both. I scooped them up without any thought as to how I would use them. Finding junk and repurposing it is one of my great loves. My initial thought was to spray paint them white, but the more I looked at them the more I wanted to keep them as original as possible.
They needed a good cleaning. I didn’t have any brass cleaner on hand so I resorted to an old remedy, ketchup. Yes I said ketchup. I gathered the following items:
1. newspaper
2. old tooth brush
3. Ketchup
4. soft cloth
I brushed a light covering of ketchup over the lamps and allowed them to sit for an hour while I did some other cleaning. After an hour, I brushed the lamps with the toothbrush to loosen any dirt and than washed them off with warm soapy water. I allowed them to dry and than polished them with a soft cloth.
I was pleased with the end result. Now I need to figure out how I’m going to use them. Stay tuned for that project. Have you used ketchup to clean brass or brass plated items your home?
