Citric acid

kjohn

kjohn

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Did a scientific :p experiment this morning on an old 8x57 Yugo surplus brass. I boiled a bit of water, poured it in a shallow dish, stirred in a wee bit of citric acid and left it for an hour or so.

Here's the difference:

try one after a x.jpgtry one original a x.jpg

Pics aren't studio quality, but you get the idea. :)
 

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It makes a big difference in the final finish of the brass. Although its only a cosmetic thing, as your brass can be very clean without using citric acid. It just doesn't have the sparkle to it. I use Lemi Shine, which is primarily citric acid.
 
Yes. Welcome all ideas with regards to cleaning brass. This is, after all, the place to share those ideas. :)

I have been using a Frankford Arsenal vibrating cleaner with Princess Auto crushed walnut shells and a sploop of old car polish. A friend gave me three jugs of proper brass cleaner liquid. I am going to give that stuff a whirl as well.
 
The best Ive found when cleaning brass is to use a little bit of Dawn dish soap, with a 9mm caseful of Lemi Shine with hot water. I usually let it tumble for 90 minutes then rinse, and sun dry.
 
Magellann said:
The best Ive found when cleaning brass is to use a little bit of Dawn dish soap, with a 9mm caseful of Lemi Shine with hot water. I usually let it tumble for 90 minutes then rinse, and sun dry.
Click to expand...

Same kind of recipe is used here, 60 minutes in the rotary tumbler then 4h of drying in the shop oven at 225F. No more dust!
 
Don't use hot or very warm water with citric acid (or other acid).
That gives you the red copper spots and does not aid in cleaning.
 
ive been using a spoonful of pledge and a spoonful of lemon juice with stainless pins.never had to tumble anything longer than forty five minutes.some has been good at 30 minutes.i buy pledge and lemon juice at cosco.brass looks like new.
 
I use a scant teaspoon of Lemishine in 1.5 litres of hot water, with a small squirt of Dawn dish soap, in a Hornady ultrasonic cleaner for 30 minutes. My brass comes out looking pretty darn good, nothing like the picture above.
It's not polished by any means, but it is clean.
 
bertn said:
Don't use hot or very warm water with citric acid (or other acid).
That gives you the red copper spots and does not aid in cleaning.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My wife just gave me a mini type of crock pot to use for cleaning brass. So, use just luke warm water? I have citric acid.
 
I tried using the Hornady case cleaning solution in the ultrasonic cleaner first, with so-so results.
Using it with the heat option resulted in discoloured brass.
I switched to the Lemishine and Dawn solution fairly quickly, with good results. Using heat (according to Hornady, the thermostat is set to 135°F) is giving me the best results for clean brass. It's hot enough to be uncomfortable holding it for more than a few seconds.
It comes out of the solution, gets rinsed thoroughly in hot clean water, then I dry the outside with a paper towel.
Then the brass gets loaded on a cookie sheet, standing upright, and it goes into a 170°F oven for 30 minutes to dry. I switch the oven off at the end of 30 minutes and let it cool naturally with the brass left in it.
If you're cleaning a couple hundred cases at a time, this isn't practical. I typically do less than 50 rifle cases at a time.
 
I use a small squirt of sunlight dish soap and maybe half a teaspoon of citric acid in my ultrasonic cleaner with lukewarm water. It doesn't get the brass super sparkling, but it's very clean, which is all I care about.

When I'm done I rinse it in cold water with a bit of baking soda to neutralize the acid, then a quick fresh water rinse.
 
kjohn said:
Interesting. My wife just gave me a mini type of crock pot to use for cleaning brass. So, use just luke warm water? I have citric acid.
Click to expand...

Actually I'm only doing cold water tumble now and have not had pink spots again.

I also was under the impression that hotter would be better but after doing lots of brass cleaning on older and or dirtier brass I found out the hot water makes the citric acid way more agressive.

I do rinse as hot as possible after to help with drying.
 
mark222 said:
I use a small squirt of sunlight dish soap and maybe half a teaspoon of citric acid in my ultrasonic cleaner with lukewarm water. It doesn't get the brass super sparkling, but it's very clean, which is all I care about.

When I'm done I rinse it in cold water with a bit of baking soda to neutralize the acid, then a quick fresh water rinse.
Click to expand...


When using a US cleaner do you suspend the brass so it does not contact the sides or bottom of the US tub?. I read somewhere that this must be done to avoid damage to the US itself. Many people use a type of mesh to suspend the brass.
 
Chilly807 said:
I tried using the Hornady case cleaning solution in the ultrasonic cleaner first, with so-so results.
Using it with the heat option resulted in discoloured brass.
I switched to the Lemishine and Dawn solution fairly quickly, with good results. Using heat (according to Hornady, the thermostat is set to 135°F) is giving me the best results for clean brass. It's hot enough to be uncomfortable holding it for more than a few seconds.
It comes out of the solution, gets rinsed thoroughly in hot clean water, then I dry the outside with a paper towel.
Then the brass gets loaded on a cookie sheet, standing upright, and it goes into a 170°F oven for 30 minutes to dry. I switch the oven off at the end of 30 minutes and let it cool naturally with the brass left in it.
If you're cleaning a couple hundred cases at a time, this isn't practical. I typically do less than 50 rifle cases at a time.[/QUOT
My method as well. but I usually do a few hundred cases at a time, Thats why I sun dry most times.
Click to expand...
 
Well, I did soak some grungy 8mm-06 and .45acp cases last night and dried them. Took them to the shop today and gave them a 40 minute go in the FA vibrator. They came out nice, very nice. I realize that the process is certainly not necessary, and that there are probably as many different ways of cleaning as there are people doing the cleaning. I posted for the benefit of new handloaders, whether they be old time shooters or newbies.

I have my little crock pot now and will continue to give the grungy ones a cycle in citric acid. I tried using a bit of car polish in the media when I was vibrator cleaning, but I made the mistake of putting the polish in at the same time as I put the brass in. I did try cutting a few squares of paper towel (ordinary table stuff) in the media. It certainly does keep the dust down.

Lots of little tricks to try. Have at 'er!! :)
 
Ed Smurf said:
When using a US cleaner do you suspend the brass so it does not contact the sides or bottom of the US tub?. I read somewhere that this must be done to avoid damage to the US itself. Many people use a type of mesh to suspend the brass.
Click to expand...

Yes, my cleaner came with a plastic mesh basket for that very reason. The manual specifies not to use the cleaner without the basket due to risk of damage. I spaced mine off the floor of the cleaner a wee bit more based on the pitch of the vibration. You can actually hear the effectiveness and adjust slightly.
 
mark222 said:
Yes, my cleaner came with a plastic mesh basket for that very reason. The manual specifies not to use the cleaner without the basket due to risk of damage.
Click to expand...

I do the same, for the same reason. Metal to metal contact with the cleaner tub will apparently cause pinholes to develop.
I've learned that a single 30 minute heated cycle is enough to clean up to about 25 rifle cases. More than 25 cases, they don't come entirely clean. I also change the solution between batches, it doesn't seem to clean as well the second time around.
Lemishine is cheap at $4 per container, as is dish soap.
 
I have used Lemishine/citric acid on real dirty or tarnished brass and it cleans up well. I always wondered what it does to the brass thickness as it is obviously dissolving the brass surface inside and outside. Someday I will just leave a piece of measured brass in the solution and check it in a couple of weeks. I suspect I will have the neck splitting though from working it before it fails from thinness.
 
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