Serious Education ... plus the most fun you can have in metal finishing. Q. I recently applied hardware to a door with a US10B (oil rubbed bronze) finish. Most of the hardware industry uses a finish that simulates this look but this particular hardware is actually OIL RUBBED BRONZE. The problem that I am faced with is that the protective packaging that we use damaged the finish. is there a way to refinish this hardware on site rather than replacing it? A. Can't the hardware on-site be cleaned and "oil-rubbed" once again? I'd guess it depends on how long the finish dries, if it's not fast enough, people would be walking away from the doors with brown-stained hands. Q. I also love the look of oil rubbed bronze fixtures, but imagine my surprise after investing a considerable amount of money to find out that this is known as a "living finish" and will wear off. One of the pieces was purchased on e-bay due to delivery time restraints from the manufacturer and now I am sitting with a $330 Roman Tub Faucet that I cannot use.
Any ideas on resolve? Q. Re. the US10B oil-rubbed bronze LIVING finish. I'm considering about $1,100 of Yale door hardware in this finish for our new home. Has anyone lived with hardware or faucets in this finish long enough to describe the natural change process that occurs? Does the color become more coppery over time? Does it look "rusty" or corroded or does it develop a pleasing patina? Any pictures you can send me? Thank you very much. Robin, it isn't quite clear to me why you "cannot use" it. By "living finish", what they are trying to say is that the finish remains similar but is not static over the long term. Like an old penny that stays in circulation, or a brass handrail, or a school ring. The factory oxidation will gradually burnish off the highest wear areas, but meanwhile the natural oxidation process is continuing in the low wear areas. The central idea is for it to thereby last longer than other finishes, not shorter. Still, you can lacquer it, or use automotive clearcoat on it if you prefer.
Debbie, in principal it will become more coppery in the highest wear areas and will turn brown in the areas of no wear. How well one particular run of one particular brand of door hardware will perform under one particular family's pattern of use probably remains an unknown though. But I think we're talking about generations, not about months. We have Amerock oil rubbed bronze pulls => on our kitchen cabinets and they are very attractive, but they apparently have a clearcoat topcoat rather than being a living finish. Q. Can one purchase an oil rubbed bronze repair kit that allows you to repair scratched or damaged oil rubbed bronze? Also -- our handyman sanded an area of our exterior door and sanded the finish off areas of our oil rubbed mailbox. Is there a way to re-apply that finish as well? A. I am not aware of kits specifically for that purpose, and can't promise an exact match, but you can get that will impart a general brown-black coloration. Presumably you can buff away the blackening from the wear points for the right look.
Q. Refinish Oil Rubbed Bronze Fixtures? On my most used fixtures, the oil rubbed bronze is turning copper. I want to refinish it to the original look. What can I use. A. We are using oil finishes in our production I have never tried to do it on Brass surfaces as we have chemical aging techniques to do it much easier, but the main idea behind the finish is following. You heat the part or parts lets say in a wood fire than when the part are heated you dip it into oil, which can be used oil also like used car engine oil or whatever is cheaper to get. You should be careful as the oil could light up , I suggest a metal recipient and a metal cover if it really starts to burn. The temperature of the metal part you keep in the fire should be more than 300 °C about so you should keep the products about 15-20 minutes in good fire. After you dip the hot products in oil the oil will burn onto the surface of the metal, you could try a few times before doing it onto your final part with some metal parts which you aren't afraid to destroy.
After the oil is on your metal part burned you need to wait to cool down and you need to dry the extra oil on the part left after taking it out from the oil tank ,this can be done with saw dust or with a dry cloth, be very careful use protective equipment and do it in a open space because quite lot of fumes are being generated by the process. Q. I have purchased and installed over the last few years several oil rubbed bronze bathroom fixtures. I have well water which seemed to dis-color the fixtures. Actually, the water has removed the finish leaving part of down to the bare metal. Any way to put color to these areas?We have a thread on line here, letter 34482, which explains exactly what an oil rubbed bronze finish is, and how it's done. This may help you puzzle through the touch up / refinish question. A. The finish on copper products is very delicate and quickly damaged from improper cleaners and cleaning pads. Restore It Yourself, Inc offers a kit called the Copper Patina Repair kit which quickly restores the brown oil-rubbed' finish or black finish to all bronze, brass and copper products and a colored wax to protect the finished product.
Q. I was cleaning my front door with a bleach solution and it got on my oil rubbed bronze door handles and now they are dull and discolored. Any way to fix this? We have oil rubbed bronze his and her sinks in our bathroom and have had them for 10 years. At about 3 years, the beautiful brown on the faucet handles has turned yellow over time. My husband and I believe its mostly due to us turning the handles. Something from the oil from our hands. He uses the cold handle more and I use the hot more and it's obvious. It looks horrible to have the gold next to the brown. Also, toothpaste splatter can cause green specks in the oil rubbed bronze too. It seems high maintenance and is a pain to me as I don't need any extra work around the house. I bought some stuff to darken it up for furniture some sort of stain but it didn't work at all. Seems like it needs to soak in it forever but what a pain to have to take it apart to soak it...I don't recommend it. Q. We have had oil rubbed "bronze" finished faucets throughout our Victorian home for more than 11 years.