Revival of old Brasso paste

[Hobbyst46]

Hi all,
For polishing and bringing new life to copper and brass items, my favorite is the classic Brasso paste - in spite of its ammonia smell.
But, after 2-3 years on the shelf, the Brasso in a once-opened flask appeared to separate into components. Squeezing the flask forces out only a clear thin liquid, which has a poor or at least very slow effect on the tarnished metal.
I found that the (quite obvious, perhaps) solution is to shake the flask vigorously for 2-3 minutes. The components re-mix into a paste, which does its job nicely.

[MicroBob]

Just in case someone looks critical at his old brass microscope now: The value of old brass microscopes suffers if you polish it up to a nice antique-trader-shine. The old microscopes were painted with a stained shellac specific for this maker and they are far more valuable if parts of this old paint are there compared to a fresh polish. Better as someone with expertise (not me) before starting to work on it.

[Radazz]

Brasso really cleans down to the metal. It also efficiently dissolves any finish.
I’ve found it is better to use a light polish with jewelers rouge followed by Renaissance Wax to preserve the lacquer finish and still get a nice shine.
Radazz