Lemon and Salt

• Lemon is a powerful food acid that's useful in a variety of cleaning solutions for brass. Add the abrasive power of salt to deep clean this metal. Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle it with salt, then rub the lemon over your brass pieces. Another option is to mix lemon juice with salt and dip a cloth into it. Rub the solution on the brass to clean it.
  
  

Lemon and Baking Soda

• Baking soda is an abrasive, but less so than salt. It also dissolves very easily in lemon juice and will make a cleaning paste for brass. Mix lemon juice and baking powder to the consistency of toothpaste and use a cloth to rub it into brass. Wipe and buff with a clean cloth to bring the brass to a high polish. You can also sprinkle baking soda on a slice of lemon and use this to polish the brass.
  
  

Lemon and Cream of Tarter

• Cream of tarter is an even more gentle abrasive. Mix the lemon with cream of tarter to make a paste. Rub the paste into the brass with a cloth. The paste should sit for about five minutes, working to eat away at dirt and grime on the metal. Now all you have to do is wash the piece with warm water and dry it to a shine.
  
  

Olive Oil

• Olive oil and lemon juice aren't only a delicious salad dressing -- they work together to clean and condition brass. Once you've used one of the lemon cleaners to bring your brass to a shine, rub in a small amount of olive oil to keep the brass moist and bright. Olive oil has the added benefit of retarding tarnish.