Flitz polish.

[Iroquois]

So.. I've been polishing a ton of Brass in the vibratory cleaner.I was enhancing my corn cobs with the Midway brand brass cleaner. Every piece looked good, shiney , with very few rejects. When I ran out of the Midway brass fluid, I added Flitz brand. The first batch of.44s came out covered in thick black gunk. The bowl was also full of the same gunk. It took an hour with a steel brush and mineral spirits to clean the bowl. I'm at a loss. Did mixing the two brass polishes combine to make glue??? . I put the.44s back in with untreated corncob media. I hope that removes the tar like gunk.
Any advice or knowledge is appreciated..... thanks.

 

[indyblue]

I ran a similar experiment using mothers metal polish with the same result, and lesson learned.

I wet tumble with stainless steel pins, a couple drops of dawn, and a shell case full of lemi-shine.

Everything comes out, bright, shiny and smooth.

 

[bgcatty]

With treated walnut shells or corn cob media I’ve used and relied on Dillon Brass Cleaner for many years. I’ve seen that it not only does a superior job cleaning but also that there must be something in that formula that keeps the brass shiny clean until you shoot the brass again. Even then, the brass does not seem as dirty as the previous go round. My !

 

[Michigan Slim]

Put one or two used dryer sheets in your media and let it run. May need to do it a couple times to clean it up. Always run your tumbler with a sheet. They turn black in short order. Keeps things cleaned up.

 

[tsm]

When you use a cloth to shine metal using Flitz, the metal ends up polished but the cloth used will turn black. I suspect it’s minor corrosion that the cloth & Flitz combo removed while shining the metal, but there’s no way for that stuff to get removed from your brass & polishing medium so it stays there and cruds everything up. The cloth removes it when polishing by hand. You’ve discovered that Flitz does not make a good brass cleaner in your application!

 

[Cameramonkey]

When you use a cloth to shine metal using Flitz, the metal ends up polished but the cloth used will turn black. I suspect it’s minor corrosion that the cloth & Flitz combo removed while shining the metal, but there’s no way for that stuff to get removed from your brass & polishing medium so it stays there and cruds everything up. The cloth removes it when polishing by hand. You’ve discovered that Flitz does not make a good brass cleaner in your application!

I'll second this.

I think Flitz is just too corrosive for brass. Stick with what works.

You're going to need to throw that media out now and start over. Its contaminated.

 

[natdscott]

And: the best way to get brass ready for the next firing is to size it and load it.

(shiny brass does not shoot better, and may shoot worse)

 

[LokhXIV]

And: the best way to get brass ready for the next firing is to size it and load it.

(shiny brass does not shoot better, and may shoot worse)

First time I've heard shiny brass may shoot worse. What's the reasoning behind that? Only thing I could think of is the idea that a protective layer may have formed on the brass and prevents a good seal/grip on the chamber wall.

 

[cavallo]

I don't know the answer to your actual question about what happened. Perhaps you have discovered an ancient formula for black concrete.

Back when I dry tumbled, I took corn cob and added a healthy squeeze (maybe a tablespoon or two) of Nu Finish car wax in each run. Brass came out much cleaner than without it

 

[Trapper Jim]

The first reason to clean brass is dignity.

The second reason is to reduce dirt and carbon from your dies. Especially high volume shooters.

The third reason is it is a good time to inspect your brass for gremlins. Split cases wrong caliber bad primer pockets and unreloadable flash holes.

Probably are more reasons.



Bet your Brass

Trapper

 

[INP8riot]

I wet tumble with stainless steel pins, a couple drops of dawn, and a shell case full of lemi-shine.

Everything comes out, bright, shiny and smooth.

This. Hasn't failed me yet. Too much Lemi-shine and they do come out pretty yellow...had a mishap with getting too much in once and it was bright yellow when done!

 

[Iroquois]

Thanks for all the input. I immediately threw out the old media. I ran the tarred brass for a few hours in fresh media .. it's starting to look better but I'm afraid I'll end up with nothing before it comes clean. I may try boiling them next. Or cleaning them one at a time with a rag and mineral spirits.
I'll be ordering some other brand of polish, probably go back to Midway. It didn't let me down, I just ran out. That goes to show you, stick with what works...

 

[Michigan Slim]

Thanks for all the input. I immediately threw out the old media. I ran the tarred brass for a few hours in fresh media .. it's starting to look better but I'm afraid I'll end up with nothing before it comes clean. I may try boiling them next. Or cleaning them one at a time with a rag and mineral spirits.
I'll be ordering some other brand of polish, probably go back to Midway. It didn't let me down, I just ran out. That goes to show you, stick with what works...

WD-40 works too.

 

[Iroquois]

WD-40 works too.

Well, I've used WD40 to take tar off a trailer, and I have some of that.

 

[Alamo]

…

Probably are more reasons.

…

A tray or ammo can full of polished brass loaded with new copper FMJ looks awesome.

 

[tsm]

Thanks for all the input. I immediately threw out the old media. I ran the tarred brass for a few hours in fresh media .. it's starting to look better but I'm afraid I'll end up with nothing before it comes clean. I may try boiling them next. Or cleaning them one at a time with a rag and mineral spirits.
I'll be ordering some other brand of polish, probably go back to Midway. It didn't let me down, I just ran out. That goes to show you, stick with what works...

Try putting a handful of the gunked up brass in a small glass jar with the mineral spirits and shake it for a while. If that gets most or all of them clean, I’d do the rest that way.

 

[indyblue]

When I gunked everything up with the metal polish, I had to re-tumble everything with plenty of dawn to clean it all up with multiple rinses to get my stainless steel pins and cases clean again. Then I just started over with the dawn/lemi-shine mix.

You might just try mixing the brass with dawn/hot water mix, and a container you can shake to simulate wet tumbling. Soapy water should clean the polish residue satisfactorily.

I just remember it being quite a mess.

 

[Iroquois]

Try putting a handful of the gunked up brass in a small glass jar with the mineral spirits and shake it for a while. If that gets most or all of them clean, I’d do the rest that way.

I've tried the mineral spirits, it will take a bunch of scrubbing to make that work... Last resort. I tried dawn and hot water, it didn't even soften the crust. Acetone didn't do anything. The polisher is working slowly... Gonna give it a few more hours. .44 mag brass ain't cheap.

 

[tsm]

I've tried the mineral spirits, it will take a bunch of scrubbing to make that work... Last resort. I tried dawn and hot water, it didn't even soften the crust. Acetone didn't do anything. The polisher is working slowly... Gonna give it a few more hours. .44 mag brass ain't cheap.

Well, look on the bright side: You (and everyone else reading this thread) has learned from your public service announcement about using Flitz to shine dirty brass ……………….. DON’T !!!!

 

[2tonic]

I believe Flitz works similarly to Brasso, ie; it chemically alters the tarnish on brass (not dirt, soot, etc.) and makes it release its hold.
It must be wiped away, and turns the polishing cloth black.
Tumbling brass (coated with carbon, soot, burned and unburned powder residue) in media abrades the gunk off the cases.
The "polish" that you add to media really only acts as a lubricant, and keeps the gunk from being redeposited on the brass. (Put some of your polish on a rag and wipe a dirty case with it...not much will come off.)

Flitz and Brasso are great for keeping your buckles and buttons shiny, but for smoked up brass.......yeah, not so much.

Just my two cents.