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ByDiane Henkler Updated:
The gold color of brass adds warmth and a nice patina and contrast to the furnishings in a room – plus a brass finish is classic and will always be in style. I recently learned how to age brass… you know the bright shiny yellow brass and turn it into aged brass in 5 minutes.
For this sideboard I painted, I wanted to add aged brass drawer and label pulls, but the un-lacquered pulls I wanted we’re on backorder until mid July. They did however have bright brass in stock.
I don’t mind bright brass, but for the sideboard, I didn’t want the pulls to be too shiny. I was upset that I couldn’t get the ones I wanted right away, but then figured, I could buy the bright brass and do a little DIY magic on them to tone them down a bit.
How To Age Brass
- Brass Label Holder Pulls Update: All styles of Brass Label Drawer Pulls
Below are two methods to age brass. The first uses a product called, Brass Ager.
The second method, uses water and a few household products.
I have also included a way to age brass so it takes on a verdigris color.
Note: Before you use either method, you must remove any lacquer on the brass first. You will learn how to do this in Step 1 in the tutorial below.
supplies needed:
How to Age Brass In 5 Minutes
- Brass Ager
- “000” Steel Wool
- Container large enough to hold item you are aging
- Optional: Acetone
- Wear safety googles and rubber gloves when aging brass or any metal.
- Determine if the brass you want to age has lacquer on it. If it does, that needs to be removed before you can age the brass.
If you are not sure if it has lacquer on it or not – dip it in some nail polish remover or acetone for a minute or two.
If it starts to look like this… it has lacquer on it.
2. I bought the can of acetone at Lowes. I poured it in a plastic container to soak the drawer pulls in. Place it next to your kitchen sink so that as soon as you start to see the finish get all gummy, you can rinse it off under water. You may have to dip it in again to make sure all the lacquer is removed. It only takes a minute.
The “000” steel wool does not scratch the surface, it only removes some of the Brass Ager so you can achieve the exact look you desire.
3. Pour the Brass Ager in a container and place the items in for only a few seconds. Remove when you like the aging effect.
Different Shades of Aged Brass Can Be Achieved
1. Un-lacquered bright brass.
2. Brass that was soaked with Brass Ager for 10 seconds.
3. To lessen the aged effect – rub steel wool over the brass while it is still wet. If you remove too much – re-dip in Brass Ager and repeat rubbing with steel wool until you get the desired amount of aging.
Brass aging TIP:
- Make sure that you fill the container with enough Brass Ager to completely cover the pulls to get even coverage.
I removed just enough of the aged color to tone the brass down a bit, but not as bright as they were before. They will naturally age and get darker from now on, since I removed the lacquer.
I read about using salt and vinegar, lemons and other solutions to age brass, but they do take some time and the results were not as satisfactory. If you have bright polished brass in your home and want to age it without having to buy the Brass Ager, try this method. It may take a few hours or overnight to see results, it will slowly change the brightness of the brass.
1. Remove the lacquer with acetone and rinse off, let dry. Lightly sand the piece with “ooo” steel wool.
2. Brush on a coat of white vinegar, let sit for two hours. If it is not dry after 2 hours, wait for the vinegar to dry, then proceed to Step 3.
3. Mix 16 ounces hydrogen peroxide, 2 ounces of white vinegar, and 1/2 tablespoon salt. Brush the liquid on the dry metal. Wait for a reaction. When you like the look, rinse the brass with water. Let dry.
How to Add an Aged Verdigris Finish to Brass
1. Remove any lacquer or varnish using the acetone (nail polish remover) then clean the piece. Dip the item into boiling water and let it boil for a few seconds. When the piece is cool enough to handle, clean it by wiping it all over with a clean dry cloth.
2. Soak your item for 1 hour in a mixture of vinegar and salt. Use 1 tbsp. of salt for each cup of vinegar
3. Bake the item in a 450 F oven for 20 minutes.
4. Soak the hot item in the vinegar solution until you are pleased with the color.
5. Shake off the excess vinegar and allow the brass to dry.
Using Paint To Create a Verdigris Finish
Step-by-step tutorial on how to Paint a Verdigris Finish on Brass.
Age Brass Using Sandpaper
- I also have a post on how I updated shiny brass lamps using another technique. You will find it in this post: Transformation: Update Brass Lamps
Another Way to Change the Color of Brass Furniture Hardware
If you want to make brass look like nickel or silver-toned, you can find out how I did it in this post: Spray Painting Brass/Metal Hardware
How to Make Labels for Brass Label Drawer Pulls
The next step is to make the labels for the drawer pulls. Using my word processor, I printed out the names for each label.
I traced around the rectangular part of the pull to figure out the size I would need. I set the font to Engravers MT -size to 22 pts. I printed out the names for each on white card stock.
I cut a piece of acetate from the top lid of a box of notecards to act as clear protective covers for each label. Then placed both into the drawer pull.
To see the full post on how I made over this sideboard, you will find it here,
