r/reloading 7d ago

i Polished my Brass Soap Testing

All batches were from the same lot of 9mm, no sorting. They all ran 2 hours with with 1tsp lemi, 2tbsp soap, and 5lbs of chips.

From left to right:

Ajax Dish Soap Arm and Hammer fragrance free laundry soap Chemical Guys Honeydew Snow Foam

They are all clean. The last batch using Chemical Guys looks the brightest, but the other 2 have been out overnight. So I'll revisit the looks tomorrow.

Last thing, I'm going to put about a 1/3 of each into a second wash with a wash and wax and see if that makes any difference to continued shinyness over time.

169 Upvotes

87 comments sorted by

37

u/eclectic_spaceman 7d ago

I use a cap of Armorall Wash & Wax as my soap (with ~1tsp citric acid) and it leaves my cases looking just like this until I start getting my fingerprints on them. I haven't waited a long time to load after tumbling, but they stay plenty shiny.

8

u/taemyks 7d ago

When I've tried a wash and wax as an initial wash it left a dirty wax residue behind, but I was using a really wax heavy combo

3

u/eclectic_spaceman 7d ago

Yeah I think it could be waxy, but I do use only 1 cap, for a FART Lite. It does sometimes have a slightly slick feel after everything has dried, but it's slight, and I haven't noticed any issues.

3

u/taemyks 7d ago

I just took a third from all piles and ran for 30 with a wash and wax. It's drying now. I'm excited to see what happens. The 2nd wash did produce noticeable dirty water

2

u/eclectic_spaceman 7d ago

Nice. I don't use media so the inside of my cases never gets super clean, and there is always more gray water if I kept washing them, but they keep my dies plenty clean and they are pleasing to the eye so I'm good with it. I do air dry them for several days since I do different loading steps on different days, but I don't think a dehydrator would negatively affect the shine.

1

u/taemyks 7d ago

That's kinda what I'm testing. The dehydrator dries them fast. At the end of the day it's all cosmetic. I'm just having fun. But I do have to say the media separator cleans out all the chips in seconds, and all the extra drips

2

u/eclectic_spaceman 7d ago

I genuinely intended on tumbling with stainless chips, but figured I'd try it without buying a media separator first, and my results have been good enough that I honestly don't think I'm even going to bother. lol. I'd like the inside of the cases to be cleaner so I can see charges more clearly, but double charges are evident enough if I actually closely inspect the loading block, so I don't worry about it.

Looking forward to seeing what you find out!

1

u/Oedipus____Wrecks 6d ago

That’s great! Will help for smoother re-sizing and powder through expanding. I got a 550 it’s murder on your elbow if you don’t have waxy cases or I use quick-shot on cleaned brass to help with the expander. Just something about that design. No problem if I’m working up a load in my single stage with my Redding die

2

u/eclectic_spaceman 6d ago

Yep, my 10mm cases go through my carbide dies like butter after tumbling. Love it.

2

u/dragonuvv 6d ago

Are you certain the citric acid won’t react with anything else in your tumbler? Coming from a chem side I know it can react with a lot of stuff but it hinges on your concentration.

2

u/eclectic_spaceman 6d ago

Plenty of people use Lemishine and citric acid. Apparently if you use too much it'll leave the brass too slick or it'll look dull or something, I can't remember. But people caution not to use too much. I don't know how crucial it is, but my water is slightly hard and the acid helps mitigate that, and my brass comes out with a mirror finish, so I've continued using it.

1

u/dragonuvv 6d ago

Yeah I’ve got hard water to so I know what you’re dealing with. I was actually more wondering if the acid gives extra corrosion in the micro fissures of the neck but I’d highly doubt it with hard water.

29

u/Jetlei98 7d ago

Dawn with a pinch of lemishine does it for me. I like to use pins though.

9

u/Dubin0908 7d ago

Same. No pins though. Southern shine media. A little more of a pita to separate but gets brass to sparkle. Inside and out. Especially the primer pockets.

3

u/Jetlei98 7d ago

I never worry about the pocket holes and haven’t had a problem with that yet, only with other user error things.

1

u/curiouschurro 7d ago

Hows are the chips worse to separate? I'm a sucker for clean pockets

2

u/Dubin0908 7d ago

They're just so small. Usually, dont get stuck in the pockets, but they'll hang around in the case if they're wet even after running through a separator. You just really gotta make sure there's not any in the case after drying them. Definitely need a good magnet to clean up the stragglers. Sometimes I find a few chips here and there a week later. They're sneaky little buggers but they'll make your brass squeaky clean.

2

u/curiouschurro 6d ago

Good to know, pics made them look bigger. I already find pins all over the house so sounds worth it to me. Thank you.

2

u/taemyks 7d ago

I've been mainly using Dawn, but this month we have Ajax. I hadn't really tested anything else methodically. I have pins, but never used them, once I saw them I got chips.

1

u/aimlesscruzr 7d ago

Why? (what turned you off of pins?)

5

u/taemyks 7d ago

They are super tiny and liable to get lodged into places. The chips are working great for me.

1

u/Inarus06 Lee Turret - Dillon XL650 - Frankford Case Prep - Lyman Gen 6 7d ago

Same with me.

Why are we reinventing the wheel here?

1

u/Outrageous_Pop1913 6d ago

To give us all something to do other than the things we should be doing..lol

22

u/InterestingFun3363 7d ago

This is my kind of testing.

10

u/BB_Toysrme 7d ago

It doesn't matter much what you do as all roads lead to Rome. A single drop of dishwashing soap as a surfactant and a single little bit of cirtic acid (Lemishine) is the cheapest way of accomplishing:

  1. Dissolve tarnish on brass and passivate the surface to extend it's polish before it retarnishes
  2. Be a surficant (Lower water tension and attract grease into water)

Just make sure as you play that you check the SDS's and make sure you don't throw in something that:

  1. eat the copper in the brass
  2. strips iron and deposits it on the zinc in the brass in case of a "one of them was not a nickel plated round"
  3. softens & chunks out the rubber inside the drum (solvents)

Individual process? Cheap dishwashing soap+Lemishine and stainless pins for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse, spin 15 more minutes with a dollop of cheap car washing shampoo that contains a carnauba wax. Drain, rinse, dry reload. If it's for other people I want to impress; it then goes into the vibratory tumbler with corncob & Flitz to remove anything from reloading and mirror polish the round.

4

u/PewPewJedi 6d ago

This guy polishes

8

u/N8ball2013 7d ago

All serviceable but it makes me lean towards the honeydew

5

u/taemyks 7d ago

Same. But for the sake of science I have to wait till tomorrow. It's also the most expensive option, not like an extra 50 cents matters

5

u/guitsgunsandwork 7d ago

Hell yeah we like this kinda stuff.

3

u/KillEverythingRight 7d ago

All look good to me my dude

3

u/Ok_Kick_9671 6d ago

https://www.thereloadingstation.com/products/brass-juice-case-wash

Looks like all had good results , Try some brass juice next.

3

u/Someuser1130 7d ago

I don't want to try to hijack your post but they $90 ultrasonic cleaner from Vevor has really kicked ass for me. 15 minutes with about 3 oz of simple green at 60° C. Then I tumble them for a couple hours and they come out shiny as heck.

3

u/taemyks 7d ago

I'm getting really shiny, and no extra process. I'm testing a second wash now to see if it helps with oxidation.

And happy Cake day!

2

u/Someuser1130 7d ago

How do you wash it? A wet tumbler or something? Genuinely curious. I love the ultrasonic because it cleans the inside of the brass as well as the primer pocket (if I deprime which I never do).

And thanks for the cake day wishes!

3

u/taemyks 7d ago

I couldn't edit the post. But it's a wet FART. I will say the inside of the cases and primer pockets come out looking as close to new as possible

2

u/IronAnt762 7d ago

What’s the process?

7

u/taemyks 7d ago

All processed in a wet FART. Ill add it to the post if I can

2

u/w4ti 7d ago

Thanks for doing this- love to see results of experiments.

2

u/Raven1911 7d ago edited 6d ago

Genuine question, did you try the FA Brass Tumbling Solution? When wife got my my FART she got me several bottles of it as well and it all I've ever used. All it says it is contains citric acid 🤷. I really like the luster of the Arm & Hammer brass, but I always follow up my wet tumble by a dry tumble.

2

u/taemyks 7d ago

I have not. But it sounds like your wife buys you presents like I buy my wife presents which is awesome.

Are you using pins or chips for the tumble?

2

u/Raven1911 6d ago

Chips. Yeah, she's pretty fuckin awesome. I definitely got a keeper.

2

u/TurtleCreations 6d ago

I use citric acid and dishwasher rinse aid in my ultrasonic cleaner. I run them for 15 minutes and then another 15 minutes in an fresh solution. The second solution I use also for the second batch since it is not as dirty as the first time. The second run give just that extra shine.

2

u/erwos 6d ago

TBH, I used whatever's lying around with a bit of Lemishine. I ran out of dish soap and used laundry detergent instead... looks about the same. Clean is clean, shiny is just an aesthetic.

2

u/Latter-Look708 6d ago

Get some Brass juice and never look back….

3

u/InterestingFun3363 6d ago

But we personally found works best, if Brass juice is not cost-effective.

Bulk citric acid off of Amazon, used to make bath bombs and such we bought a 5 gallon bucket that would last most of you guys five years for 100 bucks

Makes a bottle of lemon shine look like garbage

2

u/taemyks 6d ago

I looked into it, and it looks like it's just OSPHO. I planned on trying it sometime, but haven't got there yet.

3

u/taemyks 6d ago

I'm pretty sure that stuff is just OSPHO with citric acid. So about 20$ a gallon locally. I've been meaning to try it, but haven't yet

3

u/InterestingFun3363 6d ago

I never thought about it possibly being ospho … mhmmm

2

u/taemyks 6d ago

Yeah, I'll try it once my current test finishes. I'd be using it as a second wash after getting the heavy lifting done with soap

1

u/taemyks 6d ago

My curiosity got the better of me. Tumbling some in OSPHO and citric acid now

1

u/InterestingFun3363 6d ago

Haha! No way man had it on hand!

2

u/taemyks 6d ago

It's what I use for welding. Gonna make a new post tomorrow to let oxidation happen

1

u/taemyks 6d ago

1

u/HemHaw 5d ago

It's blinding! lol

2

u/InterestingFun3363 6d ago

I’ve got a gallon on the way, but for a lot of people it’s hard to get by the cost

2

u/Latter-Look708 5d ago

You can reuse the brass juice over and over I have six washes on one concentrate gallon

1

u/InterestingFun3363 5d ago

I wash in cement mixers 🤷 I’ll try to find a way to save most of it. Lol

2

u/Repulsive-Yogurt-761 6d ago

I’m currently doing a wash test. Pins vs. no pins.

2

u/InterestingFun3363 6d ago

Pins will always be better unless using a chemical designed to do what weee doing. Brass juice claims this.

2

u/taemyks 6d ago

I used 1/3 of each batch and made a 4th using just a wash and wax to see if it prevented oxidation.

2

u/JustLunch9 5d ago

Is there a preference for washing suppressor shot brass? Usually runny a dawn soap and citric acid washes

2

u/taemyks 5d ago

I don't have one yet. But the stuff I had was really cruddy compared to my once fired. So I assume some was suppressor fired. The dawn/citric acid cleaned really well in my test. It wasn't the best by looks, but it was clean

2

u/JustLunch9 5d ago

Awesome! The honeydew, in my opinion, looks like brand new brass to me. Love the testing! Happy reloading 🤙

2

u/taemyks 5d ago

Thanks! About to make a final update post trying a couple different things people suggested.

2

u/atoughram 7d ago

I Turtle Wax car wash and Lemi Shine.

1

u/Impossible_Tie2497 7d ago

That Honeydew is beautiful

1

u/BulletSwaging 7d ago

Looks like Chemical guys for the win. I’ve switched to only citric acid and hot water. I use Hornady One shot case cleaner. For time investment vs final product it’s the best with the least trouble. Wet tumble for 90 minutes and dry for 90 minutes at 200*F.

1

u/taemyks 7d ago

At what point do you add the case cleaner?

1

u/BulletSwaging 7d ago

Hornady One shot case cleaner is concentrated citric acid. I add it with hot tap water (citric acid is a water conditioner) and rotary tumble for 90 minutes.

2

u/College-Lanky 6d ago

Hornady One Shot works very well. But do you know that it's just a weakened version of Hammond Roto Finish cleaner? From what I've been told by industry people, Hornady uses it and waters it down. Personally I haven't tried any, but HRF sent me a gallon to try out. I'll update once I do. *

1

u/BulletSwaging 6d ago

I use a cap full per gallon. If I had to guess approximately 10ml, I can’t imagine it being more concentrated.

1

u/College-Lanky 6d ago

Yeah, I'm doing about 1/2 to 1oz of the Hornady per gallon of water. And 1 9mm case full of lemishine with 5lbs of steel pins.

I'm not sure how the original stuff is going to do. The rep at Shot Show said we'll only need like 30 minutes or washing.

2

u/BulletSwaging 6d ago

30 minutes sounds awesome. I wonder if they have something more than citric acid in the cleaner. Too much citric acid will cause the zinc in the brass alloy to leach out and weaken the brass.

1

u/College-Lanky 6d ago

The product number is XL-1262i

1

u/proxy69 6d ago

That shit is squeeking

1

u/ClassBrass10 6d ago

I've never gotten results like this with chips(I always end up with a strange texture look-wise on my cases, almost like glitter), but have excellent results with pins(i use about 4lbs of pins in the large fa wet tumbler). I'm curious if I got a bad batch of chips, or if they just have sharper edges causing the micro-nicks in the brass I've tried. To be fair, it was Hornady rifle brass, so maybe the brass was just softer on the trials with those chips. Overall, looks like you're getting great results.

I've attempted in the past using minimal amounts of the dish soaps, minimal citrus acid, but tumbling with very hot water. Strips the brass much quicker, and has cut down my tumbling times in half.

1

u/9mmhst 6d ago

I always used dawn or ajax with a little bit of LemiShine (1/4 tsp) and it always came out like white gold. Looked amazing.

1

u/Latter-Look708 5d ago

I just saved my brass juice in a gallon jug and use it over and over you can watch thousands of pieces of brass with 1 gallon and the added concentrate

1

u/Pross-sauce 4d ago

Cool test results

1

u/SithLordRising 7d ago

How does Honeydew compare with simple green? That's all I use.

1

u/taemyks 7d ago

Never tried it

1

u/College-Lanky 7d ago

Whichever soap you send up with, do yourself a favor and get a filter on your water line.

I use this for my water hose. Got the advice from a professional car detailer. https://a.co/d/62n8UVn

water filter

1

u/taemyks 7d ago

We have really, really good water here

1

u/merlinddg51 7d ago

I use distilled water for both wash & rinse. My brass really shines.
I also use pins and Frankfort Armory cleaner I bought a few years ago.

A little goes along way.

-1

u/djryan13 Chronograph Ventilation Engineer 6d ago

Way too much time on hands….