Question About Cleaning Brass with Lemi Shine

[Ethan Cord]

Howdy all,

 

I finally have some time to start catching up on brass cleaning and reloading. I have a tumbler with stainless steel pins and in the past used an 1/8 teaspoon of Dawn & 1/8 teaspoon of Lemi Shine if I recall correctly. I believe the Lemi Shine I used was the powder, but it's been a while. 

 

I believe it was this Lemi Shine Powder however while looking under the sink I located this bottle of Lemi Shine Rinse which is a liquid. Have any of you tried this? 

 

I know this is probably a loaded question, do you have any other recommendations for cleaning brass? I tried ceramic media, but it did not work well in the bottle neck cases for me. It was difficult to get it out of them.

 

Thanks!

[Tequila Shooter]

Instead of Dawn I use a little car wash/wax.  I also use ⅛ tsp of Lemi Shine powder, but honestly can’t tell a difference with or without.  

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

I like to add Strato-Sheen powdered jewelry polisher to my wet tumbler mix.

 

Yul Lose turned me on to just using a tablespoon of Strato-Sheen, a little Dawn, and 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi Shine and no stainless pins.  When shooting smokeless powder, my cases are just as shiny as when I used SS pins.  This has made my life much easier.  I haven't tried this with BP cases yet, however.  I put a link to buying Strato-Sheen below:

 

Strat-O-Sheen Powder Burnishing Compound, 5-lbs. (riogrande.com)

[Two Shoots]

I use blue coral auto wash and a tsp of stratosheen with the ss pins.  In the final rinse, I throw in a little dishwasher “rinse aid” to help it dry without spots.  Get as much water off of it in the media separator and then dry it in a case dryer 

[Cholla]

I use a squirt of blue Dawn and a swish of the dishwasher booster powder that the previous homeowners left. It works great. I also use the SS pins with them. Makes stuff look like new.

[Tequila Shooter]

Also with the SS pins I use a couple of small round rare earth magnets on a small piece of steel, the magnets do a good job of getting those little suckers outta the brass.

[Sedalia Dave]

Don't use Lemi-shine with nickel cases. it reacts with the nickel and will cause your brass cases to come out dull.

[Shooting Bull]

I'll second two of the above suggestions.  Car wash/wax instead of Dawn leaves a thin film of wax on the brass and it seems to run smoother through the dies.  Also, ditch the pins and use Strat-O-Sheen.  Brass comes out every bit as clean and shiny without having to separate pins afterwards.  

 

Last extra note:  Do you have hard water that leaves spots on your dishes after they're washed?  If yes then by all means use the Lemi-Shine.  If your water is already soft the Lemi-Shine isn't providing you any extra benefit. 

[Marshal Ruger]

I highly recommend 2 tablespoons Maguires Gold Class car wash shampoo & conditioner , 1/4  teaspoon Lemi-shine powder to a gallon of cold water. Leaves a waxy film on the brass. With DAWN, the brass is clean but tarnishes quickly!!!

[Ethan Cord]

Thank you all for the replies! I ordered the Strat-o-sheen which should arrive by the 22nd. 

 

In the mean time, I am trying out the recommended no SS pin method using some Meguiar's Deep Crystal car wash I have on hand (my cousin "borrowed" my Meguiar's Gold Class) and a little Lemi Shine liquid. 

 

Another question for those that recommended the no SS pin method. Does this work for cleaning black powder from brass too, or do you find the pins are needed to get the crud out?

 

Thanks again!

[Kid Rich]

Lemi shine is a booster for dish washing liquid

kR

[Ethan Cord]

4 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

Don't use Lemi-shine with nickel cases. it reacts with the nickel and will cause your brass cases to come out dull.

If someone already did this, is there anyway to make the brass shiny again? Asking for a friend......

[John Boy]

After years of wet tumbling smokeless and black powder with a 3 oz solution  of Strat-O-Sheen ... with 3mm ceramic media and a 2 second squirt of Dawn or the Dawn 3x ... bright and shiny inside and out with clean primer pockets for both powder cases

Years  back we ran a long thread on the Wire using this combination with pictures and ... mine was the winning picture of brass and convinced folks about the Strat-O-Sheen use

PS:  Change your solution after each tumble otherwise the sulfide states in the solution will turn your cases a pretty  shade of gray

[Cholla]

9 minutes ago, Ethan Cord said:

If someone already did this, is there anyway to make the brass shiny again? Asking for a friend......

Yes. Do it over again without the nickel cases. 

[Sedalia Dave]

8 hours ago, Ethan Cord said:

If someone already did this, is there anyway to make the brass shiny again? Asking for a friend......

 

8 hours ago, Cholla said:

Yes. Do it over again without the nickel cases. 

 

Speaking for a friend... Because we can all agree that I would never do such a thing. 

 

Rinse the tumbling media really well and then retumble without the nickel brass. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Being dull doesn't hurt anything. I recommended to my friend...  to just load and shoot them and remember next time to separate the nickle from the regular brass.

 

 

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Lemishine is citric acid that can be purchased  In the canning section of the grocery store. Cheaper than Lemishine.

[TN Mongo, SASS #61450]

Yep, as others have stated, Lemishine and nickle cases don't like each other.

 

My cases are shinier if I knock out the primers, prior to tumbling.  I'm not sure if silver colored primers are nickle plated, but they seem to also react (somewhat) to the Lemishine.

 

I have also found that having the primers out gives me a better shine when tumbling with no SS pins.  Another benefit to removing primers are the primer pockets are cleaner, the brass drains better and dries quicker.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

HA!!  None of the above.   Soak in warm water with White Vinegar for about 20 minutes.  Dry.  Dump 'em in the Dillon with Lizard Litter.  DONE.

[Cholla]

1 hour ago, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

 

HA!!  None of the above.   Soak in warm water with White Vinegar for about 20 minutes.  Dry.  Dump 'em in the Dillon with Lizard Litter.  DONE.

I this in reference to cleaning or counter-acting the nickel tarnish on brass?

[Ethan Cord]

4 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

 

Speaking for a friend... Because we can all agree that I would never do such a thing. 

 

Rinse the tumbling media really well and then retumble without the nickel brass. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Being dull doesn't hurt anything. I recommended to my friend...  to just load and shoot them and remember next time to separate the nickle from the regular brass.

 

 

Sedalia Dave,

 

My "friend" took your advice and ran the brass through again without any nickel cases this time. The cases are very clean, yet still quite as dull as my "friend" who is contemplating an alias change to Little Dull Brass. 

[Ethan Cord]

1 hour ago, TN Mongo, SASS #61450 said:

My cases are shinier if I knock out the primers, prior to tumbling.  I'm not sure if silver colored primers are nickle plated, but they seem to also react (somewhat) to the Lemishine.

 

I have also found that having the primers out gives me a better shine when tumbling with no SS pins.  Another benefit to removing primers are the primer pockets are cleaner, the brass drains better and dries quicker.

TN Mongo,

 

I also remove the primers prior to tumbling my brass. I use the Lee Universal Decapping and Depriming Die mounted in my Rockchucker press. I also have a supply of spare Lee Universal Depriming and Decapping Die Pins because from time to time a Berdan primed case ended up in my .223 or .308 brass destroying the decapping pins in my Dillon dies before I changed over to the using the Lee die as a stand alone operation. The replacement Lee decapping pins are bargain and change out quickly with a wrench.

 

Thanks for your advice!

 

Ethan 

[Cholla]

2 hours ago, Ethan Cord said:

Sedalia Dave,

 

My "friend" took your advice and ran the brass through again without any nickel cases this time. The cases are very clean, yet still quite as dull as my "friend" who is contemplating an alias change to Little Dull Brass. 

That's odd. I did my friend did the same thing with a batch of cases. The looked like yellow pewter.  I... he added more cases after removing the nickel cases and rewashed them with Dawn, detergent booster, and SS pins. They look like new and no difference can be noted.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

Cholla 

 

Atz my standard process for cleaning and polishing ALL my brass.  Even Nickel's Brass.  Same same.  I shoot APP by the way.  No Heathen Fad Smokeless stuff.

[Bad Bascomb, SASS # 47,494]

  After reading previous posts claiming media was not needed for wet tumbling, I decided I had nothing to lose but time in trying the method.  Indeed, if it actually worked, I would save LOTS of time not dealing with SS pin recovery.

About 800 9mm brass, cover by 2" with water, 1 second squirt of Blue Dawn, and a pinch of Lemmeshine.  2 hours on the Lyman tumbler and they looked brand new.  Flush, Rinse, Lay out in sun and shake every 15 minutes until dry.  Absolutely amazing!  Next day was 900 .45 ACP.  Learned to begin early so I finished rinsing by noon and had 3 to 4 hours of decent sun for 'solar drying'.

Anyone wanna buy some SS pins....?

[Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104]

I use the pins when cleaning black powder cases to get some of the shine back.  No pins needed for smokeless.

[Ethan Cord]

On 1/15/2021 at 9:43 PM, Jailhouse Jim, SASS #13104 said:

I use the pins when cleaning black powder cases to get some of the shine back.  No pins needed for smokeless.

I found a 100 plus rounds of 45 Colt brass on the shelf that had been fired with black powder. Not sure where this brass came from, probably got it in a trade, but I'm certain that it has been on the shelf for the better part of a decade. After de-priming the brass, I set aside the 10 nickel cases and tumbled it with just water and Strat-O-Sheen and it cleaned up really well and is very shiny.

 

I am now a Strat-O-Sheen convert!

 

Thanks to all of you for your input! 

[Warden Callaway]

 

Lower container.  What mixed nickel plated and brass look like after wet tumbled with Lemi-Shine.

[Ethan Cord]

12 hours ago, Warden Callaway said:

 

Lower container.  What mixed nickel plated and brass look like after wet tumbled with Lemi-Shine.

Yep, some of my 45-70 brass came out like the bottom picture when I mixed the nickel & brass in with Lemi-Shine and Dawn. I have since re-cleaned it with Strat-O-Sheen only and it is much better. Not super shiny, but it does not look brown and dirty. 

[Wicker Nash]

Question for those who wet tumble without pins:   Are the primer pockets and inside of the cases clean and shiny?

[wyliefoxEsquire]

+1

 

[Uncle Ethan # 94321]

Just cleaned a load of brass using Mongo's suggestion. Came out looking great, and no SS pins.

[Yul Lose]

2 hours ago, Wicker Nash said:

Question for those who wet tumble without pins:   Are the primer pockets and inside of the cases clean and shiny?

Why would they need to be? 

[Kid Rich]

There are  things I do to get shiny cases without separating nickle and brass.

1. Rinse them in hot water and Dawn, let them soak 20 minutes. BP or smokiless.

2. Use 3/4 tsp Dawn and 1/4 tsp Lemishine in tumbler with cold water.

3. Tumble 3 hrs.

4. Rinse well, usually three times.

5. Separate pins from brass.

6. Put in oven on newspaper lined cookie sheet at no more than 220 degrees for 30 to 45 minutes.

If you want a little "color" to your cases jack the temp up to 265 degrees.

WFMYMMV

kR

PS I have 2 Thumbler model Bs and will do a minimum of 2 loads a week when I am home, sometimes as many as 8.

[Max Payne]

You don't need to use the stainless pins. Just don't be stingy with the Dawn & Lemi-shine. Not using the pins will save you a ton of time & energy, & the brass will still be beautiful if you aren't stingy with the Dawn. 2 hours tumble is okay. I often tumble up to 4 hours if I'm doing something else.

[Shooting Bull]

23 hours ago, Wicker Nash said:

Question for those who wet tumble without pins:   Are the primer pockets and inside of the cases clean and shiny?

 

I don't bother de-priming before tumbling so I can't speak to the primer pocket condition.  I do notice the inside of the cases at the very bottom down by the head doesn't seem to be quite as shiny as with the pins but it's most definitely clean and shiny.