Choosing the right finish for your project
What to expect from antique brass, bronze and polished nickel once they’re in your home.
Choosing the right finish for your project
Of the three finishes we offer on our solid brass products, all have been designed to be timeless and suit a wide variety of interior styles. Which finish best suits your project will come down to personal taste and the look you are aiming to achieve.
It’s worth bearing in mind, however, that our antique brass products in particular are designed to age gracefully, developing a patina over time. But what exactly does that mean? And what about our bronze and polished nickel finishes?
Here, we dive into what you can expect from your Corston products and how to look after them.
Antique brass
This is a ‘living’ finish, which means that it’ll react to its environment. The oil from your hands, the moisture in the room, even the air around it will cause it to darken.
How quickly that happens depends on whether it is in an indoor or outdoor location, the levels of moisture in the room if indoors, and how often it’s touched. As a rough guide you can expect it to keep getting darker over the first six months or so, and then to mostly settle down and stay the same.
Personally, we love that brass does this. It helps it ‘bed in’ and not feel so new.
It’s also great if you don’t want to be too precious about your home. It looks good even when it’s well-used.
We even age our antique brass products by hand before we send them out to you, so they have an antiqued look straight out the box.
If you do want to reverse the ageing though, you can use a metal polish. Our antique brass restoration kit is best, but Brasso can also be used (it’ll take it back to a much brighter finish though).
Bronze
Our bronze finish is not designed to age in the same way as antique brass, so this is a great finish to choose if you want your details to consistently make a subtle statement through the years.
As with most things in life, time will eventually take a subtle toll on the ‘newness’ of the finish, though it’ll depend primarily on how often it’s handled.
You shouldn’t use metal polish on our bronze finish though, or anything much else for that matter. Any kind of chemical or acidic solution will damage the finish. All you need is a damp lint-free cloth to clean it.
Polished nickel
Our polished nickel finish is designed to always be bright and shiny, save for fingerprints of course, and those are easy to buff off with a soft cloth.
Happily, polished nickel is a very classic look that works with all interior styles, so you can update your decor without needing to change your architectural details.
One thing to keep in mind is that it’s a slightly more delicate finish than chrome plating. So, if you have it outside – or inside in high humidity – it’ll eventually be affected and you might notice some silvering or fading (we still think it looks great as it subtly ages though).
Likewise, using polished nickel, or in fact any of our finishes, in particularly harsh environments – such as the salt air of a coastal location – will most likely bring changes over time. This is to be expected, and if you live by the sea, you’ll no doubt have experienced it with many other products.
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