Lemi-shine tarnish fix?

SavageHunter11

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2017
Messages
527
Location
East River South Dakota
Washed a load of Lapua brass last night in my Frankford Arsenal Platinum wet tumbler and this load came out clean but dull. I didn't have my normal measure for my lemi-shine and I think I over did it a bit. If I aggressively wipe them off with a towel the tarnish does come off but it's still not as shiny as usual. Should I run them again in my tumbler to get the tarnish off? If I should, do I run the same mix of lemi-shine and car wash soap I normally do or should I forego the Lemi-shine?
 
I have found that the appearance varies anyway from batch to batch. It will depend on how much soap I use and how much Lemishine I put in there and how long I let the batch run. I never measure the Lemishine, and I'm sure I usually over do it. However, they turn out just fine.

You can run them though a quick clean without the Lemishine, as it won't hurt anything. It will be interesting to see what difference it makes.
 
I have found that the appearance varies anyway from batch to batch. It will depend on how much soap I use and how much Lemishine I put in there and how long I let the batch run. I never measure the Lemishine, and I'm sure I usually over do it. However, they turn out just fine.

You can run them though a quick clean without the Lemishine, as it won't hurt anything. It will be interesting to see what difference it makes.
They almost feel like they have a really thin layer of wax on them. Not sure if it's lemi shine or the wax in the car wash soap but I'm going to run them again and see what happens
 
Run them in a a few drops Dawn dish soap and a quarter (or less) teaspoon of lemi shine. Should come out great. Much more than 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of lemi shine will cause the dulling, orange effect. Of course, tub size will have an affect. I never put more than 1/4 teaspoon of lemi shine in and my brass turns out nice and shiny. The one time I over did the lemi I had dull, orange, tarnished looking brass.
 
Run them in a a few drops Dawn dish soap and a quarter (or less) teaspoon of lemi shine. Should come out great. Much more than 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of lemi shine will cause the dulling, orange effect. Of course, tub size will have an affect. I never put more than 1/4 teaspoon of lemi shine in and my brass turns out nice and shiny. The one time I over did the lemi I had dull, orange, tarnished looking brass.
I've been using a rounded 1/2 teaspoon of lemi shine and a cap full of car was soap and I was getting good results but I'd always have a few pieces of brass that would get these brown spots of tarnish. I might back both off from now on and see how it goes. I've got a real dirty batch of 500-ish 300blk to run after I re-run this Lapua brass so well see how it goes.
Polish them up in the media tumbler with some polish, solves the tarnish issue
I wish I had a media tumbler because that was my first thought too
 
11, a long rinse in hot water followed by compressed air dry usually keeps the spots away if you don't overdo the Lemi and Dawn. Our crappy Az alkaline water isn't helpful either.
 
11, a long rinse in hot water followed by compressed air dry usually keeps the spots away if you don't overdo the Lemi and Dawn. Our crappy Az alkaline water isn't helpful either.
We don't have a water softener in our house (yet) but I haven't had issue with hard water spots when I let everything air dry. I don't have an air compressors to speed the process up anyways.
 
They almost feel like they have a really thin layer of wax on them. Not sure if it's lemi shine or the wax in the car wash soap but I'm going to run them again and see what happens

Use normal dishwashing liquid, your automotive soap with "WAX" may be preventing the Lemi Shine from working on the surface of the brass. Dishwashing soap holds the dirt in suspenshion and off what is being washed. Plus if you use Dawn you can wash baby ducks. ;)

zwAWwUI.jpg
 
Same tumbler as you. I use a spoon of dawn, spoon of lemishine and tumble. Hand dry with towel and put them in my wife's convection oven for 7 minutes. Great results. Lemishine was a real game changer

I guess I should have read the instructions:) I'll try more,soap and less lemishine. Might look even better
 
Use normal dishwashing liquid, your automotive soap with "WAX" may be preventing the Lemi Shine from working on the surface of the brass. Dishwashing soap holds the dirt in suspenshion and off what is being washed. Plus if you use Dawn you can wash baby ducks. ;)

zwAWwUI.jpg
I used to use dawn but I kept reading about reloaders suggesting car wash with wax stating the wax helps give the brass casings a thin coat of protection from discoloration. Also when I switched I noticed a lot less soap foam/residue on the dried cases
 
I used to use dawn but I kept reading about reloaders suggesting car wash with wax stating the wax helps give the brass casings a thin coat of protection from discoloration. Also when I switched I noticed a lot less soap foam/residue on the dried cases
I'd be concerned that thin coat of wax is another thing that can gum up my chamber and bore. I might be wrong
 
I wet tumble the cases before sizing and use Hornady One Shot that is a dry film lube that does not need to be removed. Meaning the One Shot keeps the air off the cases like a coat of wax would. Hornady also makes a dry film gun cleaner that leaves a dry film of lube on the firearm that does not pick up dirt, dust, etc and protect from the elements moisture etc.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.
Top