I’ve written about stripping brass plate before and it never ceases to amaze me what a difference you can make with a little steel wool and some elbow grease. Mike and I found this old lamp in a junk store for $8—the plating was worn and scratched revealing hints of a silver lining. We loved the shape and scale of it so out came the Blue Magic ($7.99, Canadian Tire automotive section) and the super-fine steel wool. It took about 90 minutes for Mike to give the lamp a new lease on life; the body stripped quickly, the neck took quite a bit longer, but the effort was well worth it. This is one reveal worth clicking through for . . .
Pretty good, huh? If I hadn’t paid for the lamp myself, I’d never believe it cost just $8. The shape and shine suggest mercury glass. I don’t know enough about metals to say what it’s made of exactly but the surface is just like a mirror. The metal polish leaves a protective finish so there’s nothing else to do except plug it in and marvel at your handiwork. Next week, I’ll post about a few of our favorite local junk shops, including some stellar recent finds.
January 2nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
Wow that looks fantastic! Great tip, I didn’t realise it was so easy to strip the brass off.
January 2nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I seem to recall you once mentioned stripping a coffee table with this stuff. The lamp is spectacular, I love it!
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:29 pm
wow!!!!!!! so cool. thanks for sharing.
January 7th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
thanks for the info, Chris. i really need to tackle the bases of my two old floor lamps!
January 8th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
That is spectacular! I look forward to your posts on vintage and thrift shops and finds.
February 6th, 2009 at 3:11 am
Any idea what the name of the chemical is? As a Canadian living in Chile, I miss out on Canadian Tire, it’s monopoly money and it’s blue magic brass stripper.
September 23rd, 2010 at 1:47 pm
This is really amazing! Any idea if something like this would work on an old brass shower surround from the 90s, or is that likely to be solid brass?
September 24th, 2010 at 12:33 am
Michelle J – I was thinking the same thing – I HATE the gold-toned shower doors and also have some gold-toned, mirrored closet doors. They are certainly not brass – probably an anodized aluminum. I am very curious to try this product… Thanks for a TERRIFIC post!!
October 11th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Tried this yesterday ..an hour of vigorous rubbing yealded a patch of silver about the size of a quarter! Ha ha..I kept my family entertained at leat! Not all brass lamps are made equally apparently. I’m thinking about using sandpaper or sandblasting the brass off. The method shined up a whole lot of old copper and brass stuff though. Thanks for the tip.
September 27th, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Found this on Pinterest (I think). What a transformation! I will be adding this to one of my pinboards to remember for when I run across a lamp with a similar finish.
March 18th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I’m doing a lamp right now that is two pieces. One piece came out a beautiful silver, but the other stayed bright brass. Guess I’ll try spray painting the brass.
September 25th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
I’m American, and have never seen or heard of “Blue Magic.” Any idea as to a American version? I have a hideous gold toned lamp staring at me and cannot get rid of it due to it being a late family members of my daughter. (I also hate shopping on and off-line lol)
October 23rd, 2012 at 12:49 pm
http://bluemagicusa.com/index.php/blue_magic/products/210/blue_magic_metal_polish_cream_jar/
April 1st, 2013 at 9:39 pm
I have a small lamp it was brass until I saw this and I buffed it on my bench grinder and much to my surprise after about an hour and a half its silver, or so it looks like it, I dont have the right testing tools , its only 8 inches tall and weighs over 3 pounds, if its solds silver thats close to 900 bucks , o and I got the blue magic and fine steel wool, its the steel wool that takes the brass off and would of taken me all day to complete, you first have brass then a fine copper layer, theres no way they did it in 90 min
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