Just don't let your wife find out...

I have found this to be the easiest and cheapest way to clean dirty range brass and it really does work...

I take two old cotton socks (no holes) put about 50 or so cases in one. Tie the end in a knot. Then put it inside the other sock and use a plastic zip tie to close it up tight. Throw it in the washing machine with some old towels I use to dry the car and anything else that might need a quick washing , add detergent and let it go. I think the front loaders might do a better job than the old top loaders as the front loaders tumble the socks around. I could not believe my eyes when I took them out. Not polished much, but all that dirt, grit and most all the tarnish was gone. Try it, it works great. Just don't let your wife know what you're up to.

For years I just popped mine in a old kettle with a bit of detergent and a splash of vinegar and boiled them for an hour on my outside fish cooker. It worked great on everything from range pickup stuff that was so tarnished it looked black to my match ammo. Ammo came out spotless with the exception of the removal of cuprous oxide which is the reddish oxide not to be confused with cupric oxide which is greenish or black. It would take the black cupric oxide off but the brass would retain the cuprous oxide sometimes making the brass look reddish.

When I decided I wanted my brass to be shiny I made a rotary tumbler from some 4 inch PVC and mounted it between centers on a metal lathe, now I use a Franklin rotary, sometimes wet sometimes dry

When I first started reloading two months ago, I told the wife, try these in the washer see if it cleans them. She put them in a little bag with holes and that's how I been doing it since with vinegar and a little detergent. I don't understand the part about, "Not letting the wife know". :confused:

I also have her dry them in the dryer but you have to throw some towels in there because it gets real loud. My wife is my brass cleaner and primer pocket cleaner.

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Originally Posted by 88Magnum

When I first started reloading two months ago, I told the wife, try these in the washer see if it cleans them. She put them in a little bag with holes and that's how I been doing it since with vinegar and a little detergent. I don't understand the part about, "Not letting the wife know". :confused:

I also have her dry them in the dryer but you have to throw some towels in there because it gets real loud. My wife is my brass cleaner and primer pocket cleaner.

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All I can say is not all of us are that lucky.. Mine would kill me if she found out I was washing brass in her new Kenmore.

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Originally Posted by PaddyD

All I can say is not all of us are that lucky.. Mine would kill me if she found out I was washing brass in her new Kenmore.

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I broke the handle on the last dryer and the board on the washer replacing the cord so she bought new ones and she'll do anything to keep me away from them. :rockon: they don't build anything like they used to.

mine would not even let me boil mine of the kitchen stove even if I used lemon juice instead of vinegar let alone put em in the washing machine or dryer. She said it stunk up the house and I had to retreat to the propane cooker on the deck. Bad part was most of them were pistol cases for her

It works great in a front loader. Here is a post I made on Maryland Shooters, with a video. I think this was about 400 cases.

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=207402


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I have no desire whatsoever to wind up living in the attic space above my daughter's garage. No heat, no air conditioning, no elevator. I will NOT be doing any brass cleaning in our washing machine.

Good tip. Thanks. And for the record, when my wife and I disagree I always get the last words. "Yes, dear."

Hope you have a good divorce attorney on stand by. Your wife finds out, your toast. You must be a young couple. Should know there are a few things you don't do being married. Your messing with one of them. :(

Listen to bearcatp. He offers sage advice. Sequentially, I will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in June. I learned the lesson years ago.

I have been with the same woman since 1979 and during that time found it is much easier to get forgiveness than permission. I'm sure this varies from woman to woman though.

Heheh, I was raised a little different. Bible Old School, the Man runs the home and the Woman will do what she's told, I was also raised by TWO parents and a Father in the home..helps that my testosterone levels are that of a musting elephant's. :rockon: Never been in one of those Liberal Progressive relationships either, we beat our kids, discipline them, I set the rules and no one breaks them. Old School!

I was thinking about this thread this morning when I was fixing our dryer. Door switch broke and wife was in the middle of some laundry. Lucky a parts dealer fairly close so I picked one up and put it on. Wife brought me home a 12 pack of adult beverage as a reward for being a good hubby. Know what though? I still would not dare to throw a pillow case full of cases in there to "test" it

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Originally Posted by PaddyD

I have been with the same woman since 1979 and during that time found it is much easier to get forgiveness than permission. I'm sure this varies from woman to woman though.

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You must have one of those wife’s who turns the other check instead of slapping yours! :boxing:

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Originally Posted by 88Magnum

Heheh, I was raised a little different. Bible Old School, the Man runs the home and the Woman will do what she's told, I was also raised by TWO parents and a Father in the home..helps that my testosterone levels are that of a musting elephant's. :rockon: Never been in one of those Liberal Progressive relationships either, we beat our kids, discipline them, I set the rules and no one breaks them. Old School!

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those schools burned down years ago! Try that now and spend time with bubba trying to stretch Uranus to view Venus! :(

My wife puts up with my experiments like this because “usually” nothing gets broken. I’ve probably saved more money fixing stuff around the house over the 25yrs of marriage that I probably get a pass if I did blow up the dryer. Hell she’d probably post it on Facebook or something.

I built a home made tumbler using the motor from an old blender that works pretty good.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...352bb413df.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e1f727b4ca.jpg

Here is a link to the build parts if anyone is interested. https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=202471

That’s a cool home made tumbler. Good job.

I still clean mine the old fashioned way, in my tumblers. My wife won't let me put shop towels in her washer, I have to wash them at the laundromat. I did get her addicted to hunting brass though. We go to the range and before we can get set up she is walking the range looking for brass. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by rerun5

I still clean mine the old fashioned way, in my tumblers. My wife won't let me put shop towels in her washer, I have to wash them at the laundromat. I did get her addicted to hunting brass though. We go to the range and before we can get set up she is walking the range looking for brass. :rofl:

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You trained your wife well. Good job!

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Originally Posted by bearcatrp

You trained your wife well. Good job!

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Back to the towels and laundromat -- I have learned to do my own jeans >>> right after I do my shop towels. Wife does not care about the shop towels, she cares about her fuzzy sweater smelling like acetone or whatever. My jeans can smell a little like acetone and she don't care...

Juss a suggestion.....

I do feel ladies have a tad more sensitivity to smells than the other gender. But I admit, with smell its ALL about association. If you associate the smell of gas or acetone or oil or bore cleaner or whatever with "fun", you will not care if your jeans have a hint of it.

Guess that's why my wife's perfume still works on me too after all these years.....