Copper Cleaning Hacks
I have some copper pots and a strainer that are just plain dingy looking. I decided to try a bunch of copper cleaning hacks to see what would work best to clean it.
You can see more of my crazy cleaning and organizing hacks here
Let's start with the top 3 winners!
Salt, Vinegar, and Flour - In a bowl I mixed together 1 cup vinegar, 1 Tablespoon salt, and added flour mixing it together to make a paste. Mine was a bit runny as you can tell. I let it sit on the copper for 1 hour. You could almost see it working immediately though.
Once the hour was up I rinsed it off and look how clean it was!
Boil Method - In a pot 1 cup vinegar, 1 Tablespoon salt, and add water to fill the pot so that the copper is covered.
Bring to a boil and place the copper in the mixture.
It will depend on how much tarnish is on the copper to determine how long it will need to sit, but over all it didn't take long at all. I think mine only was in there 30 seconds or less.
Lemon Juice & Salt Paste - I poured about 1 Tablespoon into a bowl, added salt and mixed until I created a paste. I used a scrub pad to scoop up the mixture and made circular motions on the bottom of the pan.
After it was as clean as I could get it, I rinsed it off and wiped it dry.
Here's what didn't work...
Ketchup/Tomato Sauce - I spread ketchup on the left side and tomato sauce on the right. I let it sit for 15 minutes.
I rubbed at both sides after the 15 minutes, and rinsed it off. The ketchup did a little work but the tomato sauce didn't really do anything.
Lime - I rubbed a lime all over the copper for several minutes and it might have gotten a little lighter but overall I was not impressed.
Regular Toothpaste - I rubbed on regular toothpaste with a soft cloth. I rinsed it off and sadly it again showed a little change but not a lot.
My favorite to the test: I was ready to do my copper strainer. I decided my favorite was the salt, vinegar, and flour mixture.
I coated the strainer with the mixture, and you could see it working immediately. I let it sit for an hour and rinsed it off.
This technique made it sparkle again and it was so easy to do.
*With all of the techniques there were a few dark spots left behind. I'm not sure what those are but I could not get some of them to budge for a perfect finish.
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Comments
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I've used a soft wet pumice stone on the black spots in a ight circular motion to remove the stubborn stains. Always a wet stone and wet pot.
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I use a lemon and coarse salt, works great!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
How to clean a stainless steel sink
What do you used to clean brass?
Is the salt necessary for the copper cleaning mixture? I have one of those garden motion decorations that has copper but can’t put salt in my garden.