Hello, I have a couple svea123 stoves. I've had them for a few years, nice and shiny, and originally cleaned them with flitz but read this is not a good cleaner as it is bad for the brass. So, what should I use on them on a regular basis to keep them shiny? I use them occasionally, but they might sit for many months to a year with no use and don't want them to oxidize and dull. I always keep fuel in both of them and the lid tight which I believe is the proper way to store. I also use denatured alcohol for priming so no soot. Thanks.
I have heard brasso might be troublesome but I have not heard that about Flitz. I don’t keep mine shiny as it is too much work for this lazy person.
The reason Brasso is not recommended is the ammonia. A quick search shows no ammonia in Flitz. I like patina. I do not polish as a rule.
One thing that seems to help is to wipe the stove & screen down with a clean soft dry cloth immediately after use, brass will naturally tarnish but this keeps some of it bay, fingerprints and such, and rinse off the screen well with hot water to remove any spatters. Food residue will stain and is corrosive. Keeping it clean of oil or grease means it will at least age gracefully to an even, mellow glow. They do look impressive when freshly polished, but most people can find something else to do, or probably should be doing, anyway.
Hello Mustang, I've never heard of Flitz being bad for brass; would you mind sharing a few links on the subject? I've used it for many years on my stove and other brass objects. Long before that we used to use 'Nevr-Dull Magic Wadding Polish' on the family sailboat as well as all the brass kerosene lamps I have around the house, mainly because it's relatively cheap here. If you don't like Flitz, maybe try Nevr-Dull. As mentioned above, if you do a nice job of polishing brass and then just leave it, (carefully wiping away any accidental subsequent finger prints), after a few years it will develop a nice patina that will last indefinitely and even resist further finger prints. Cheers
Somebody on this forum in the past told me flitz has ammonia in it and listed the msds sheet when I was starting to clean the stove after getting it. I personally liked flitz as well but don't wont to use it if not good. Tony on here had mentioned to use autosol polish but have not tried it. Here is a link to the flitz msds from their site. Also, since I spent a lot of time making it shiny from an ugly patina, I wanted to keep it shiny and not go to a patina. Here is a link to my post as well when I first got the stove and shined it up. You will see the patina looked bad in my opinion. Fully engraved Svea 123 on the way https://store-imlukvc.mybigcommerce.com/content/SDS - PastePolish_2021.pdf
Interesting. The problem of ammonia being new to me, I found a few references. I note the comments by John Hubby on this page: Ammonia Is BAD on Brass! | NAWCC Forums
Is ammonia *that* bad given that cleaning a stove it takes minutes not months (assuming you rinse and wash after polishing so nothing is left behind to continue reacting). Citric acid, on the other hand, will eventually leach the zinc out leaving you with pressure vessel made of copper sponge, which doesn't sound terribly safe, and any abrasive cleaner will microscopically thin the metal with each use. It's almost like they don't want to be cleaned.
Unfortunately things like this, they start out with a grain of truth, and good intentions - get told and retold, over and over and over, back and forth and back and forth, and it starts to take on a life of its own, something that "everybody knows" till it becomes an article of faith of the absurd. As a practical matter if it were an issue we'd have seen evidence of it by now, as somebody complains about their Genie producing activities ruining their stove. I wouldn't be dropping my beloved Svea members of the tribe into a bucket of Ammonia for a week, no. A quick polish with Brasso or homebrew? No problem.
Good point, but the stoves are generally so problem free, ordinarily there isn't much to worry about! They really are striking when freshly shined, I can see "both sides". Once the old corrosion and unique patina is gone, it is gone, if that's your preference. Reminds me of a story my dad told me about submarine service in the Navy. Diesel boats. There were solid brass wheels and levers everywhere on the controls, and a constant pain in the you-know-what to keep shined up at all times as was USN custom. Somebody had a bright idea, a bunch of the crew pooled their money, and then took all that brass stuff in to a chrome & plating shop. Dad said everything looked beautiful and they were all pretty happy with themselves. Until the next official Inspection. The "brass" (heh) really blew a gasket on that, and made them remove all the nice shiny chrome on the brass.
The original posts on ammonia being bad for brass were written by a high-power metallurgist who knows his brass alloys. His advice was specific to brass pressure vessels. There have been stoves featured on this site that have had stress cracks consistent with what was said about ammonia and brass. Most were confined to certain models, and so are probably due to flawed manufacturing processes, but not all. I’m not posting links to the applicable posts. I don’t want to take the time to look them up, but mostly I think that members here, having been told there may be an issue with ammonia, should LOOK UP THOSE POSTS YOURSELVES before dismissing the advice as some kind of urban myth. ….Arch
Nobody is claiming it is a "myth" let's be clear, simply that (like so many things) it has entered into the realm of silliness territory. It just isn't a factor or cause for concern as practical matter. Somebody wants to spiffy up their Svea, have at it.
Hmmm. You claim you’re not calling it a myth, and then you relegate it to “silliness territory”. Have you read the posts? Obviously, do what you want with your own stoves. Others should at least be made aware of the concerns. ….Arch
Just because I do not know something does not make it false. Wiser people than me help me make wise decisions all the time. I trust that wisdom after they were repeatedly being right.
It's simply a matter of degree. Anything can be taken to an absurd degree, to the point of silliness. If you can't find any current examples, you're probably not paying attention. I was reading another online discussion forum once, in this case dealing with vinyl LP records - a poster asked where he could find an alternative record cleaner that didn't have any Lead, he was very concerned about airborne Lead toxicity in DiscWasher cleaning solution. Mind you, this product is 99% water, sold in 1 fl. oz bottles. At first I couldn't figure what he was on about. Lead? In record cleaning solution? Then it dawned on me. California Prop Warning. Because water is fed through pipes, and said pipes may have been made of lead 100 years ago, or maybe lead solder used in copper plumbing, California requires a Warning on this product. There may, in fact, be a few Lead molecules lurking in that tiny bottle of DiscWasher cleaning solution, ready to pounce on some unsuspecting Audiophile. Stay Safe!
