How to Clean Copper Like a Pro

To clean copper, make a paste or solution from a household acid — lemon juice and salt, vinegar and salt, ketchup, or even Coke — apply it to the tarnish, let it work, then rinse with warm water and buff dry with a microfiber cloth. Avoid abrasive scrubbers, since copper is soft and scratches easily. Small items like jewelry can be soaked; larger pieces like sinks and lamps need a paste applied directly.

There’s more copper in our lives than we realize — it’s easy to overlook next to gold and silver, but it turns up in jewelry and everyday household items. Cleaning it correctly is key to making it last, since the wrong solutions can cause it to tarnish or deteriorate, while leaving copper too long lets it lose its luster.

The catch with copper is that it tarnishes no matter how well you care for it. The process is inevitable, but you can slow it down — and restore copper to nearly new condition with the right method.

What should you know about copper?

Before the best ways to clean it, a few interesting facts about this popular metal.

• Copper is soft, malleable, and an excellent conductor of heat — which is why it’s popular for pots and pans.
• The first metal alloy in history was bronze — copper and tin — so copper helped usher in the Bronze Age.
• Beyond cookware, copper is used in plumbing, electrical wiring, and even shipbuilding.

Whether you’ve got copper kitchenware or a unique piece of copper jewelry, here’s how to make it look new again.

How do you clean copper naturally?

The great thing about copper is that whether you’re cleaning a pipe or a piece of jewelry, you can use a number of natural household items instead of chemical cleaners.

What you’ll need

• Vinegar or ketchup
• Acidic fruits and salt
• Mild soap or dishwashing liquid
• Soft cloth or sponge
• Dry towel
• Bowl for water

How do you clean copper with lemon?

Lemon is a great option for cleaning copper, and pairing it with salt makes it even better — the acidic fruit and salt together lift away built-up tarnish. Here’s the process.

1. Squeeze lemon juice into a bowl and add a pinch of salt — aim for roughly 75% lemon juice to 25% salt.
2. Stir until the salt dissolves, then lightly dip in a soft cloth or sponge. A soft microfiber cloth is usually best, since it absorbs less than a sponge.
3. Wipe down the copper with the damp cloth. With the strength of the mixture, the tarnish should start lifting right away.

This is one of the best tried-and-true methods, especially if you want to clean copper naturally and skip jewelry cleaners. Make sure the salt has dissolved so the mixture isn’t abrasive — it shouldn’t feel gritty against the copper.

How do you clean copper with ketchup?

Ketchup is another natural option — since it’s made from tomatoes, it’s acidic enough to cut through tarnish, and it’s kind of fun to use.

1. Wipe the item down with warm water and a cloth first to remove dust and debris. Then coat it in ketchup, whether it’s jewelry, a sink, or a mug.
2. Use your hands or a cloth to work the ketchup around in circular motions. No need to be abrasive or scrub hard at stuck spots — that can scratch the copper rather than remove the tarnish.
3. Rinse thoroughly with warm water. The tarnish should come away with it.

One big reason ketchup is popular is that not every copper item can be soaked in a solution. Sinks, lamps, and bigger objects need a paste applied rather than a soak — which makes this the best method for a copper sink.

How do you clean copper with Coke?

If you’ve got a bottle of Coke in the house, it’s a handy way to clean copper. For small items like jewelry that can be soaked, or copper pans and pots you can fit in the sink, here’s how.

1. Place the item in a bowl, or a larger piece like a pan in a plugged sink. Use enough Coke to completely cover it.
2. Leave it to soak about an hour — especially for pans with burnt-on tarnish.
3. Unlike lemon or ketchup, you don’t have to scrub or wipe. Just rinse it off when you’re done, and that should be enough to dissolve the tarnish.

How do you clean copper and brass?

Copper usually isn’t on its own — it’s often mixed with other metals like nickel or alloyed into brass. That doesn’t change the method much, though the mixture can be slightly more or less resistant to certain approaches.

Try vinegar

1. Mix vinegar and salt in the same ratio as the lemon-and-salt method. Let the salt dissolve so the mixture isn’t abrasive.
2. For heavily tarnished items, soak them in the mixture rather than wiping, so it can loosen the tarnish.
3. After 15-20 minutes, remove the items, rinse with warm water, and dry with a microfiber cloth. For any stuck spots, scrub lightly with a separate cloth.

Copper is cooperative

Plenty of materials are hard to clean, and while copper can put up a fight against tarnish, it’s still one of the easier ones to deal with. Copper takes on a dull gray/black color when exposed to oxygen — that’s oxidation, and while you can’t stop it, you can reverse much of it.

Deep cleaning with any of the methods above, combined with regular care, keeps copper shiny — and no matter the size of the item, there’s a method that works for it.