FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Does Holland Hallmark Copper / Brass Cleaner Extra Strong also add something to my copper or brass items, like Holland Hallmark Silver Plater and Enhancer add silver whilst cleaning?
Yes a beautiful shine without any effort. But no, it does not add for example copper  because then you would not be able to use it on brass or silver or any other metal.  This copper / brass cleaner though is an exceptional all purpose cleaner. Try it on other metals as well and the results will pleasantly surprise you.

I have let the cleaner dry on the object that I was cleaning. What do I do now?
No problem, as the cleaner will have dried up to a powder, just brush or polish the item with a dry cloth or brush, you will be able to clean most off this way. Then wash the item in tepid soapy water, use a soft brush if necessary, then rinse, dry and start again. If you cannot actually put the item under the tap, then use a damp cloth to wipe all over twice and then dry thoroughly.

I have a tall garden lamp of which the top is copper. This has gone very dirty and a little corroded, how do I tackle this job?
First of all, if possible, you detach the copper part from the rest of the lamp. Then use a soft brush and soapy water to dissolve all the loose dirt and grease on the surface. Rinse and dry. Now apply Holland Hallmark Copper / Brass Cleaner Extra Strong with a soft brush, or a clean sponge. And wipe it all over the item. Leave for about 10 seconds and you will see the result instantly. If it is not sufficiently clean at this stage, then repeat the application. Assuming that the results are successful at this stage, then wash in tepid soapy water, rinse and dry.

If however there seems to be a little corrosion, then use the very finest steel wool you can buy. Certainly no courser than 0000. Now, instead of applying the Copper/Brass Cleaner with a brush or sponge, you use the 0000 steel wool to apply. This will take out some of the impurities.

After using Holland Hallmark Copper / Brass Cleaner I was extremely pleased how quick and easy it was and I was very satisfied with the result. However after a few days the item became patchy and seemed to tarnish up again. How is this possible?
We are pleased you found the use of our product so easy and quick. We are afraid though, that it was a little too quick. Your complaint about the tarnishing is the result of water residue remaining on the item. So the object was not thoroughly dried and buffed after washing and rinsing.

Just repeat the process and after rinsing, dry the item thoroughly with an absorbent (for example cotton) cloth and make sure it is perfectly dry. If the item is large, you may have to use more than one cloth. Because once a cloth has become damp. you need to use a new dry one. Then use a CLEAN, DRY, SOFT buffing cloth to buff up the shine and you will have perfect results.

I have lots of relatively small items to clean, do I have to do each one individually?
Yes, you need to polish them individually. But when you have polished the items, you can then put them all together in a bowl or bucket with tepid soapy water and  wash them, rinse them all together and then you need to individually dry and buff them again. If you do not want to clean the items individually you may also be interested in our Holland Hallmark 5 minute Cleaning Plate.

As your Method of Use recommends, I pour the liquid out of the bottle into a glass dish. But sometimes I have liquid left over after the cleaning. Can I pour the left over liquid back into the bottle ?
No, because you will contaminate the clean liquid in the bottle with dirty liquid from the glass dish. The solution is to pour out smaller amounts. (Remember to immediately replace the top onto the bottle, to avoid spillage accidents).

When you clean, you dip your sponge or cotton wool into the liquid in the glass dish. Then you clean dirty copper with the sponge. You now come back for more liquid from the glass dish and you transfer some of the dirt you have just cleaned off the item, into the liquid in the glass dish. So at the end of the cleaning process, the liquid in the glass dish is quite contaminated. This is why you must throw the residue away and not return it to the bottle with clean liquid. The  clean liquid would otherwise also become contaminated and this would, in time, affect it performance.

If you have any further questions about the use of the Copper / Brass Cleaner or any of the other Holland Hallmark products, then please do not hesitate to e-mail us at info@hollandhallmark.com