Brass Effects and Nickel Plating

There are several options for the brass on your antique bed. In many cases when you purchase a brass and iron bed from Seventh Heaven the brass will be highly polished and shiny to begin with. In the process of restoring the beds, by adapting, replacing, extending and fixing, we inevitably need to repolish the brass to ensure an even finish. However, this shiny surface will slowly fade. The copper in the brass will oxide over time and the brass will change tone to a mellow hue.

The choices for the brass are:

1. Most people prefer to allow the brass to naturally tarnish over time, perhaps every so often giving a hand-polish with a suitable polishing product.
2. You can choose to have the brass lacquered if you wish. This is a oven-baked process that seals the brass and will prevent tarnishing, but also gives a different non-natural look to the brass.
3. A popular option is to nickel plate the brass, which prevents tarnishing and gives a silver tone. This is particularly effective with certain bed frame colours including black, white and charcoal.
4. Finally we can artificially age some brass and iron beds. This is most effective where there is minimal brass on the bed and works better on the brass fittings than on brass bars.