Q&A for How to Darken Copper

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What is the best homemade copper cleaner?

Alvaro Mendoza, PhD
Metallurgist
Alvaro Mendoza, Ph.D., is a Metallurgist and the Owner of Mendoza Metallurgy in Portland, Oregon. With over 15 years of professional and research experience, Dr. Mendoza has worked in the aerospace industry in forging, casting, metal-making, and additive manufacturing primarily with nickel-based superalloys, titanium and steels. He currently runs a metallurgical consulting and education business that focuses on providing technical expertise to businesses of any size. He was recently featured on a podcast about why metallurgy matters. Dr. Mendoza received his B.S. and M.S. and Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering, focus on Metallurgy from the University of Florida.

Alvaro Mendoza, PhD

Metallurgist

Expert Answer

Vinegar is pretty easy to use! Dilute it depending on the type of look you want to maintain. Vinegar is a very weak acid known as acetic acid, so your goal is to dilute it down to minimize the power of it. An ultrasonic jewelry cleaners is also a cost-effective ways to clean copper—it's just a container that vibrates very quickly and helps aerate the liquid and remove some of the material.

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We are making a copper vent hood for our cooktop. We want to use the baking soda method to age it to a brown color. Is this safe to use over a cook top? Do we need to put some kind of finish after aging it?

Community Answer

Baking soda is food safe. The patina from the baking soda should act as a finish and protect it from oxidization.

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Question

A "friend" without my approval, scrubbed off the patina of my beautiful copper kitchen sink until it looked like a new penny, then waxed it. I'm so angry! Is there a way to bring it back? I fear he ruined the factory finish forever.

Community Answer

Scrape off any wax or other foriegn materials. Once this is done, plug up the sink and put ammonia in it. You may want to water the ammonia down. Leave the ammonia to sit until the copper reaches a dark color, then drain the sink. Another option is to simply to let time take over.

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I am creating jewelry and will be aging copper by hand. The jewelry will have natural stones and bones with wood beads on them. What process would be ideal for these materials?

Community Answer

You will need to age your metal before you start working on it. When you do work with it, use pliers that are covered with some form of plastic to avoid making marks on the already-formed patina. Once you have created your piece with aged copper, you can then cover it by dipping it in something like Protecta Clear (Everbrite). If you don't want a shine to appear on your woodwork or bones, you can paint the coating on, avoiding the stones.

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How do I protect a copper vessel from turning black?

Community Answer

Protecta Clear is the only product that I know of which works well; you might need to give it a double coating. Clean your vessel properly, and if you use an acidic cleaner like lemon or vinegar, make sure you neutralize it afterward by rinsing your copper vessel in a baking soda and water solution. Once you have done that, rinse it with clean water and dry with a paper towel before applying the Protecta Clear. Follow the instructions for the best results. Protecta Clear takes about five days to cure in dry conditions.

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What do I do if my black/dark brown patina keeps changing to a pale green when I lacquer it?

Community Answer

You might be using a lacquer which reacts with copper. It may also be that you did not neutralize your patina with a bath of baking soda dissolved in water first, so it keeps developing under the lacquer even after it was coated.

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