Cleaning your Copper

Happy Saturday Empire Fam,

Today we are off to the Wedding of our good friends. We are so excited to watch them get married and then celebrate with their families and friends tonight.  Thankfully COVID hasn't really gotten in the way of this celebration! The wedding is here in Perth, WA - the sun is shining and it's 35 degrees; how lucky are we. 

This week on our socials we uploaded a Reel to Instagram which we shared across to Facebook. Our 30 second clip shows you how you can clean up tarnished copper using different household items. 

Firstly, and probably most controversially - KETCHUP - yes, you read that right! Due to its acidic properties, it makes a great DIY cleaning agent for tarnished copper. Simply apply some ketchup to a clean, dry rag (and not all over the kitchen bench like we did). Then with a little elbow grease, begin rubbing the ketchup into the copper. This method of cleaning works on all copper items whether it be as small as a cuff or as large as a kitchen sink - you might just need a lot more sauce.

Secondly, we cleaned up a copper cuff using lemon juice. Now, I do prefer this on my pancakes but again, it makes a great copper cleaning agent. Apply the lemon juice to a clean, soft rag and rub into the copper. This method will have your copper looking new in no time. 

Last but certainly not least, you can mix 9 parts vinegar with 1 part table salt in a bowl. Place your copper item in the bowl and leave to sit for 5 - 10 minutes. After this time, check your item but gently rubbing the surface with your hand. The tarnish should start to flake off easily. If it doesn't place the copper back in the bowl for a little longer. 

Did you learn something new? Let us know!