Is there a shortcut with some home remedy to get most of the crud of this brass before I have to tumble it? I am looking at trying to save my media from getting crudded up. I normally use a piece of paper toweling torn in half in the tumbler. The toweling collects most of the crud and then I dispose of it. My media stays clean and the brass is also cleaner because of it.

This brass is so dirty that I would like to try something else as a shortcut and to save countless hours of tumbling Thanks---------Chainsaw

Dawn dish detergent, and some vinegar in water. I toss the brass in a five gallon plastic "paint" bucket and run in hot water, detergent and a couple good "glugs" of vinegar. It's not rocket science.

Some use lemon juice -- which is just more acid (vinegar is acetic acid) and they add salt. But salt turns the brass a weird salmon color. I leave out the salt.

Really cruddy brass can be rinsed in hot water before dumping in the detergent mix. Get the big clods and crap off.

I let soak for a couple days . . . but then I'm in no hurry. An hour or so should be fine. Take a look at the brass, that might tell you something!

I rinse the stuff in one of those "hand carry" shopping baskets. (Sorry Safeway!) The baskets are perfect. Some have a finer "mesh" than others. Pays to shop around.

Once rinsed, I sweep through the brass by hand to "tumble" it and get the water out. Then I air dry. An oven can speed up the drying process. 300 F should allow the water to evaporate. Yeah . . . I've had some loads that ended up full of water. It's best if you can let the brass dry in a warm/hot place for a week or two just to ensure that it's dry.

THEN I tumble in media.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Genghis:

[/B]

---

on drying brass i found that a hair dryer works pretty good.put it on high so the brass
gets realy hot. the water just evaporates.
good idea to do this when the wife is gone.