I use room temperature water, as hot water seams to cause it to leak a bit. Also, I replaced the
pressed steel wing nuts with stainless steel ones. The liner is really the only 'heavy duty' part
of the assembly. Everything else looks like it was made in someone's back yard work shop out
of tin cans. It also has no form of tension adjustment for the drive belt and no on-off switch. All in all,
though, it's been working well for a couple of years now.
Two tablespoons dish detergent and 1/4 tsp. Lemi-Shine will give good results. Dawn anti- bacterial
detergent won't produce shiney brass (we shouldn't be using Procter & Gamble/Gillette products
anyway). Sunlight will make the brass brighter than new, new, new!.