 Bevel, bevel, bevel, bevel, bevel. How do you restore a bronze faucet that has been chemically damaged by cleaning chemicals? That's a great question, and we're going to talk about it today. Hi, there. I'm Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. Now, today's show is brought to us by MyCleaningConnection.com. This is a resource that has all different kinds of things from books, podcasts, uniforms, product reviews, different kinds of cleaning equipment. All kinds of fun stuff that you can use if you're a professional house cleaner or if you're an Airbnb host and you do all of your own cleaning, or if you are a homeowner and you just want to know the basics of how to clean your own home. So check it out at MyCleaningConnection.com. All right. On to today's show, we have a house cleaner that called in with this question. Hi, Angela. I did a cleaning for a customer, and the chemicals that I used in the restroom ended up messing up the faucets. They were the bronze, and that had never happened to me before. So I was wondering what you would do in that situation. I'm trying to do the right thing and replace them for him, but they're super pricey. I would just like to know what you would do. Thanks. All righty. This is a tough question, so let's back up just a step. There are a couple of things we want to take into consideration. First and foremost, you said you want to do the right thing. So I appreciate that because kudos to you for doing the right thing. The right thing is making it right for the customer. Now, what that means might vary from customer to customer. Well, let's take a look at what bronze is. Most of the bronze fixtures that are inside our bathrooms are actually maybe a different type of metal that has either been painted or coated to look like bronze, or it could be a bronze that's chemically treated so it looks like it has that antique finish. If that is the case and it's a coating that's over the actual fixtures themselves, using cleaning chemicals can very well alter the look of that and make it cloudy or lightened or something like that. So if that's what we're talking about, there's hope. So before you just run off and replace them, there is hope. There is a compound, it's a marine grade compound that is created by 3M and it's designed for boats, and it is for refinishing things that are going to be affected by saltwater and stuff like that. So it is great for brass and copper and bronze and all these different things. It's about 30 bucks. I will leave links in the show notes so that you can take a look at it, but it works wonders. So chances are you rub it on there, it's going to take everything back to its original sheen and shine. Now, what I might recommend for the future is if you have bronze fixtures and there are lots of homes now that do, they need to be cleaned with just literally a damp cloth, maybe a little bit of dishwashing soap, something that's not abrasive at all and that the chemicals are not going to eat through whatever that lacquer is. You can also use your oxodeep cleaning brushes around the edges and behind so that if there's any water that has built up or there's hard water of that sort, you can get all of those around the faucets themselves without actually damaging or touching the faucet with some kind of cleaning chemicals. So we want to stay away from cleaning chemicals when it comes to the faucets because, again, you're talking about a chemical reacting with another chemical. Now if for some reason you can't fix it, whatever, I would certainly try the compound first. You might have to replace the faucets. Now before you replace the faucets, my next question would be, are they under warranty? And if they're under warranty and you damaged them, the company might not be able to help you out but they might have some answers. So I would ask the homeowner, do you have the warranty for this? And if it's a brand new home, chances are they have a whole packet of information with all of the faucets and appliances and all that stuff. All the warranties will probably be kept together. So that will give you the manufacturer's information. If he doesn't have that, what you might do is you might go to the hardware store. I'm talking about Ace Hardware or Lowe's or Home Depot. Some of the big box stores may have that same brand or a brand by that same manufacturer. And so what you're going to do is take a picture of it with your phone. You're going to go to the hardware store. You're going to try to match it up. Usually they come in a box. On the back of the box, there will be the manufacturer's information and that's actually what we're looking for. So before you replace them and buy new ones, call the manufacturer and say, listen, here's what happened. How do I restore it? They might actually have their own proprietary blend of something that restores chemically damaged appliances and fixtures because this is their specialty. That's what they do. I'm finding most of the manufacturers that manufacture the appliances or the faucets and things like that. They have their own proprietary blend of solutions that will help restore and finish it. So that would be my second stop. The third stop is if you do have to replace it, then I would suggest replacing it out of your pocket, not filing an insurance claim. If you have to replace two or three bathrooms, and I'm unclear if it was one bathroom or if it was several, the faucets and fixtures range anywhere from about $30 to $150 a piece. Those you're going to be able to pay for out of your own pocket. But if you file an insurance claim, let's say you have a $1,000 deductible, you probably won't even meet your deductible. If you do meet your deductible, how much more is it going to cover? And then your insurance rates are going to go up. So please don't even try to file an insurance claim. If you can help it, chances are even if you file a claim, the insurance company is not going to cover it. They don't cover things that are in your care. So if the cleaning was in your care and you know you damaged it with chemicals, you're probably not going to honor that insurance claim anyway. So I hate to break the news to you that way. But before you just arbitrarily replace the bronze fixtures, my recommendation would be to try that marine compound first and see if you can just restore it. Now, having said that, if you have not damaged any bronze fixtures, I should also let you know that bronze fixtures need regular care because they are chemically treated to get them to that bronze looking state. They need a wax or an oil on a regular basis. And so this would be, I don't know, maybe twice, three times a year. You can use a furniture wax on top of them. And I will leave links in the show notes to the furniture wax where you just brush over the top of it and it prevents the water from getting into the faucets. And it just kind of helps repel that and it helps keep that nice, rich shine that we are striving for when we spray chemicals and stuff on those faucets to try to revive them. So again, please don't use chemicals. You may use furniture wax and please instead of just replacing them, try first this marine compound to see if you can, in fact, just brush it up, polish it up, and sort of restore it. All right. I hope that helps a little bit. I hope it saved you some money. If it does, please pass this on to a friend. If we've earned your subscription, please subscribe. And until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.