-
brass pole pitting?
-
Ugh! Nightmare! Let us know how you go!! 🙁
-
What have you used on your pole before you notice it? Tarnishing and coloured spots are normal with brass poles but pitting i have never seen.
I've used vinegar on my hands and it hasn't caused any problems. The vinegar combined with the salt on your skin will cause your pole to tarnish a little but that's normal on a brass pole.
Tarnish is a surface reaction and the tarnishing actaully stops itself once a thick enough layer is formed, this layer protects the brass underneath from the elements. This is the reason why very old brass items can be polished back to a brilliant shine. The same reason why a real brass pole is for life, even if it is completely covered with tarnish, the brass underneath is stellar. Small amount of tarnish comes off very easily with brasso.
The large spot at the base looks like normal wear and tear that happens with brass. It should come off easily (as it did) and you should expect to get them here and there. But pitting (where corrosion has penetrated the metal) has me boggled.
Sometimes the brass cleaner themselves can add to the pitting if the PH is too low, as the acid etches into the metal. I would be wary of over polishing it.
Do you remember leaving any chemicals on the poles?
-
All I used was 70 percent running alcohol to clean it. I put vinegar in my hands once. That’s all I did! There is no reasonable explanation for the deteriorating spots. All I can think is I didn’t wipe my pole well enough after poling. The only time I ever used Braddock or polish was this week after discovering the marks.
-
Not wiping the pole often should not make such a difference. I don;t wipe my pole down often either as I find a slightly dirty pole is grippier.
Do not brasso every 3 weeks. Brass polishes work by removing and therefore smoothing down the top layer.
Try just cleaning it with 70/30 methylated spirits and water after use and that's it. Don;t worry too much about little discolouring for a while and see how the pitting look after. Don;t over use brass polish as it is abrasive. Just relax about it for a while and see how it is after a few weeks of use. I'll worry if the pits are getting deeper, but if it's just colour then i wouldn't worry. Last thing I'll want to do is make it worse by doing too much to it.
-
I'm no expert but water & metal sounds like a bad idea. I know meth is supposed to be water soluble but do any chemistry buffs out there (in SV land ) know for sure? When i used water & meth ( 90 /10 mix) the pole became so slippery!!
Then when i stopped using water , it was like magic 🙂 Haven't had any damage to the pole but would be a good idea to know lol! Thank you 🙂
-
@ PoleDollqld
Brass is a non ferrous metal that is often used along with copper in plumbing/water pipes. so I would think that water shoudl not be a problem as long as nothign corrosive is in it. But I'm no pro, maybe Chemgoddess can chime in.
I DO know that ammonia corrodes brass very well. When I made brass props for costumes, I would hang new shiny brass pieces over ammonia and the fumes alone will tarnish and age the piece in only a few short hrs. This is why I reccommend only polishing brass poles occasionally when they are over tarnished, many brass polished contain ammonia. I think brasso removed the ammonia from their products in some countries though.
-
Thanks @moonflower . Hopefully Chemgoddess will see this 🙂
-
Water is not going to be a problem. You would have more influence from the ambient humidity than anything you cleaned your pole with.
-
FYI, I went to a studio today that has a few PS brass poles. I looked at their poles and they have the same dull yellow marks and pink etched marks that I do. The only thing is, their poles are 4 years old and have 20 or so girls on them per day, mine doesn't. Theirs had some deeper pin prick sized pits though; mine doesn't. I think it just might be that nature of the brass beast.
All the websites I have seem on cleaning brass has said to clean it with soap and warm water. If it needs polishing to use a polisher.
-
hmmm.. i live in a very humid climate. i have a statue (that is probably brass and copper mostly) that got patina'd very quickly. i guess i will forget about getting a brass pole https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_sad.gif
-
i've been told by Xpole that they do NOT recommend brass for coastal climates because of the saltiness of the air.
-
I'm not sure if I'm considered coastal or not. I'm about an hour from the coast. Back in CA I was for sure, but I didn't have a brass then.
-
Tarah – a patina is okay to have on the pole. It protects the underlying layers of the pole. Corrosion is the problem I'm having here. My pole wasn't evenly patinaing, but instead had weird marks and dots dissolving into it.
-
my statue also has a couple of small pits/holes and marks from the damp. i don't live near the ocean, just in a very humid and rainy area. it seems to be worse when it is cold/damp. so sorry this happened to you! i know i would be freaking.
-
It really freaked me out at first. Now that I see it's happening to other poles, I am not quite as worried. I think it's just the nature of brass, unfortunately. I know poles don't last forever. I am going to get a stainless since those are stronger, and I don't believe it decays like brass. I live in a very rainy area, but it isn't real humid in the air. All the humidity is in the clouds. Portland is surprisingly dry. I get all static shocky when I am up in Portland.
Log in to reply.