Just got into SS pin wet tumbling and learned a few things.

[Blastattack]

One big thing that I learned (the hard way) is that you should absolutely pre-clean range pick up brass. If you don't, you end up contaminating your pins with rocks, grass, and other crap, and it ends up tarnishing your brass, and generally doing weird stuff to the surface finish. It's not a bad idea to pre-clean any brass to wash away any dust or reisdue from the surface.

 

[hawk223]

I never tried dry media vibratory cleaning. Started with Ultrasonic but then I wanted shiny brass for some stupid reason so I went with a Thumbler and steel pins.. I always decap first so pocket primers get cleaned. Some cartridge sizes are more prone to pins getting stuck sideways but I have a magnet that I tap them on after drying just in case any pins stayed in the case. In addition to Dawn, I have also tried laundry or dish washer detergent which didnt give me all the suds. One other additive I use if my brass is very dirty is 2 shots of Spray 9 - that stuff seems to remove grease, carbon etc from anything. With wet cleaning I do find using the dry graphite lube inside the neck makes things easier and I like Imperial wax for the case. After loading my cartridges I spray rubbing alcohol on a towel and just roll my cartridges on it and that removes any of the wax on the outside of the case so they are not sticky.

How well did the dishwasher and laundry detergent work?