Polished brass

[Steve O]

Hi,
Our 1989 30 MKII has lewmar bronze winches. I cannot tell if the finish is an applied antique or just tarnish build up over the years. I tried to polish with Collinite metal polish but that made no change making me think it is an applied finish. I scratched the surface in a small area and confirmed they are bronze. Has anyone had luck in restoring to a bright bronze finish or on any other hardware like portholes and chocks. Thank you

Steve O
CD 30MK II Anu
Marblehead, MA

[Jim Walsh]

I’ve used Noxon for decades and it works fine. Flitz also works well. Both require a bit of rubbing and if the item is heavily tarnished several applications may be necessary. It helps to wear nitrile gloves because the process will be a bit messy. I find old cotton rags much more effective than paper towels. Rub it in, let it dry to a haze, buff off. Repeat as necessary.
Xylene works but due to the hazards I wouldn’t recommend it to a casual user.

[Tom Keevil]

The green color is normal weathering of bronze. Many of us prefer this color, and wouldn’t dream of trying to polish them.

[Cathy Monaghan]

There’s no need to polish bronze and don’t use anything that contains wax on winches of any material where they come into contact with the line.

[gbernard]

I've had good luck with 3M metal polish. It looked nice but was short lived as I couldn't keep up with it....