Expert: Eileen Cronk - 7/6/2005

Question
Hi, I have a tin (think) suitcase, quite large, almost like a trunk, with brass (I think) corners and locks and hinges. It is painted dark blue.  I'm pretty sure it belonged to my grandparents and it is probably close to a hundred years old.  I've started trying to clean it up a bit...used some Vim (a household liquid cleaner) on the paint and it cleared off a lot of junk to where the original blue seems to be back.

I tried Brasso (a commercial product for polishing brass items) on the hardware...I got a few spots of brightness but most of it seems to be covered with a dark scum of some kind. Is there something I could use to get the junk off and then polish the brass?

also is there anything I can use to clean off or remove a few rust spots?

and, any kind of polish or buffing I could do on the paint which is kind of dull after the cleaning to make it shine?

There is a decal on it that says "Monarch Luggage) with a logo of a British-looking royal crown. I was wondering if I could find out where that company was based. My grandparents lived in Woodstock Ontario Canada, and moved west to Saskatchewan in about 1901. I'm thinking the suitcase might date back to that move.

Any ideas?

thanks
jeanne

Answer
Hi Jeanne
Nice to hear from you.
First off, try a paste made of white vinegar and white table salt on the brass followed by a polish with Brasso.
Try naval jelly on the rust spots (hardware store). Use very fine steel wool as a scrub pad with the naval jelly.
You can apply paste wax to the paint after everything else is cleaned.
Monarch Luggage was based in New York. The only reason I know that is I have a piece of it LOL.
Mine is a trunk also.
Not worth a lot in value, just sentiment.
Hope this helps
Kindest Regards
Eileen