If you’ve found an antique brass bed and are struggling to get it cleaned and polished – I can help!

I spent a LONG time looking for a twin size antique brass bed for our guest room. (You can hear more about my original guest room plans HERE.) I was scouring Facebook Marketplace and setting alerts, but the only one I was finding was 3 hours away.

My desire was for a true antique, and real brass, rather than brass plated. The best way to know the difference is to see if a magnet will stick to the frame! A brass plated bed will have enough iron underneath the plating that it will be magnetic. A magnet will not stick to a true antique brass bed frame.

Here’s a peak at my mood board showing my original plans for the room. I wanted brass, and I wanted it to be unlacquered, since I do appreciate a level of patina. When buying an antique frame second hand, I wanted to be able to know that the bed was completely clean, get the brass back to it’s brightest self, and then let the patina return as it ages as part of our home.

Back to my search…

I set myself an ultimatum that I would keep looking for a set period of time, and if nothing closer came up – I’d spend a day making the 6 hour round trip and would get the one bed I had found.

Well, you guessed it – a road trip was in my future!

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The Trip To Pick Up my Treasured Bed…

I drove in our old expedition with a broken radio and spent the time enjoying the silence and hearing from God.

When I arrived, it was a true antique, from 1911, but it was quite a bit more beat up and dented than I had originally thought. If I had been closer to home, I probably would have turned around and gone home without it! But since I had already made half of the long the drive, I figured I might as well bring it home!

After some searching to find the best method to clean and polish the brass – I’m now very happy I went through with the purchase!

You can see how beautiful the bed looks in our guest room now:

If you are still at the part of the process where you’re staring at an old piece of brass and feel intimidated about getting that original luster back – let me help you!

Now, before I begin, I will say there are other products out there that you can find and buy that are marketed as brass cleaners. I wanted to go a different route with something that was a bit less harsh, more natural, and with products I’d already have on hand.

How to Clean & Polish an Antique Brass Bed

Here’s what you’ll need: salt, vinegar & flour and a scrubbing pad.

I found that doing this process outside was helpful because I could rinse the bed off with the hose when I was finished!

Mix 1 teaspoon of salt with 1/2 cup of vinegar and add flour to make a paste texture.

I used a paint brush to apply the mixture to all of the brass surface and left it to sit for about 15 minutes.

Then I used a scrubbing pad to finish the cleaning process. I did still need to wipe down each surface – but the combination of the salt, vinegar and flour made it so much easier.

I rinsed it off with a hose and left it in the sun on a warm day to dry fully.

The lady I purchased the bed from gave me a tube of an automotive product she had called Autosol, and I used that as a final polish after the bed was completely dry.

By the time I was finishing this last step, I was so excited about the bed and couldn’t wait to start styling it up in our Anne of Green Gables inspired guest room.

I hope this helps if you’ve thrifted an antique brass piece and needed help cleaning and polishing it for your own home!

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• Brass to Faux Wood Chandelier Makeover
• How to Antique Brass with Rub N Buff
• How to Gild with Gold Leaf
• Blackwashing Wood Furniture

Save this Tutorial for Later | Cleaning & Polishing an Antique Brass Bed