Polishes and Brasso are by their very nature abrasive. While they MAY not actually take off metal or materially affect the sound of most cymbals, I would personally stay away from using any abrasive product on my relatively large and valuable cymbal collection. To me it would be as inappropriate as using Pledge furniture polish on a Stradivarius! I remember reading on a site where there was a recommendation to use Carnuba car wax on a cymbal after cleaning to restore the original shine. Seems most folks desire to restore their cymbals to like new, and have little concern with the effect on the sound. Perhaps with rock in louder venues that's not as important. But with jazz, cymbal subtleties make a difference musically. Its a personal decision. Like doctors, my credo with vintage cymbals is "do no harm". I only purchase cymbals that in my estimation sound great. I buy them to use and not just look at. I do nothing that might alter the sound in any way. I once cleaned a 16 inch crash cymbals for my son a number of years ago when I didn't know better. It was a wonderful mellow crash and after cleaning it sounded brighter and a bit harsh. My son noticed the change in sound first and still refuses to use it to this day even though he performs a couple of times a week. I used Groove Juice and I learned the hard way.

With all due respect-Let's talk a moment about the beautiful words like "patina" and "natural". I beg to differ,but cymbals are shiny when made and darken from oxidation over time!If the material were iron or steel,an engineer would call it Rust!It looks worse,and the metal is altered from original.That doesn't improve the structural integrity of a bridge or a car fender.It's a by-product of being exposed to air! I don't confuse my cymbals with wine which is stored away from air! Yes, polishes remove material-you can see the black on the rag...If you like 'em clean, use low-abrasive silver polish,not muratic acid or Groove Juice. Muratic acid was meant as a concrete driveway stain cleaner. Again-I'm not an audiologist nor metallurgist,I just don't "Drink the Kool-Aid"! My experience w/cleaning ugly cymbals is limited to '70s Zildjian As and Ks or before,and would emphasize my respect for other views.

OK. Please don't think I'm crazy but I have done this and it works amazingly!! If you got a really badly corroded cymbal that's turning brown and green get some muriatic acid at your local hardware store. A gallon is about $8. Make sure you wear rubber gloves and work outside in a well ventilated area. Simply poor the acid on the cymbal and use an old rag to wipe away the tarnish. There will be no scrubing necessary. Be sure you do it outside as it will give off noxious fumes! Also don't do it on your lawn as it will kill the grass!! Wear rubber gloves!! The acid will dilute completely with water so just wash the cymbals down with a water hose when you are done. Also don't leave the acid on the cymbals too long. Once they are shiney wash them down with water!You will be amazed!! Muratic acid is also very good to clean rust off of old parts especially tension rods. Just put your parts into a glass jar and cover with the acid. In a few seconds the acid will completely disovle off the rust and tarnish. Poor off the acid and rinse the parts well with water. This will strip the part down to the pure metal so make sure to spray the parts with WD40 to keep them from corroding again.Just remember to work safe, as this stuff is real nasty. But you will end up with a cymbal or parts that look brand new!

If you saw my earlier post I indicated I'm not against the concept of cleaning a cymbal, especially when there is real grunge other than a patina on it. With respect to your contention regarding rust and structural integrity, I completely agree. If we were tallking about rust on a bridge or a building that would be important. But...we are talking about a patina on a musical instrument. And although we may disagree , like wine I believe cymbals can improve with age. I indicated my aversion to harsh corrosive chemicals such as muratic acid, and my personal experience with Groove juice, not to cleaning in general. You seem to agree with me regarding their use so I don't know why you took issue with my opinions on this subject. I have on a few occasions washed cymbals with mild soap and water to remove tape residue and other grunge. If you took offence to my statement about some peoiple being more interested in cymbal looks rather than sound, I stand by that. It wasn't aimed at you or many others who clean their cymbals. But I know and have met people who have steel wooled their cymbals, sand papered them, polyurethaned them, painted them, waxed them and ground them down, all to make the cymbals look good. I also have indicated in this thread that everyone has a perfect right to clean their cymbals if they wish. I indicated my preferences and the reasons for them. You seemd annoyed by my opinions, but I'm not sure why. Your opening couple of sentences gave me the impression that you believe cymbal patina is dirt that should be removed to get the cymbals back to sounding like new. If I've misinterpreted, I stand corrected. But, if that is your point, than we will not be able to agree on this one. Like I indicated earlier, to clean or not to clean is a personal choice, and I've made mine.

Peace and good health to you,my drum brother! Perhaps we'll meet,share a pint,and enjoy playing the other's fine toys. Stay well, BH

Just to clarify things a bit. I did that muratic acid cleaning about 20 years ago when I was much younger and did not know much about cymbals. I picked up this really badly coroded cymbal and had tried everything to clean it. The muratic acid did the trick. I was so impressed that I wiped down my other cymbals whith a diluted treatment and it made them all nice and shiney. Back then I was happy and was only bummed when it also wiped clean the Zildjian stamp off of one of my newer cymbals. Since then I have never needed to or wanted to clean any of my cymbals that way again. Just to let you know I still have all those cymbals 20 yeas later and they have taken on a normal patina for their age and look and sound just fine.I do still use the muratic acid to clean rust off parts. Try it on an old rusty wrench or pliers and you will get a nice shiney tool in return.And yes eye protection is a must!! Storm Trooper