Lucite Tips and Discoveries!

As you read on my last lucite post, I'm on a lucite kick because I found such a purse myself last Sunday!  I was wandering my favorite flea market, and I looked again at the purse.  It's in one of my favorite booths (It's really cute and has lots of vintage feminine stuff like shoes and parasols), and I've continued to pass by it for months.  Apparently so has everyone else, because it was still there, and the price was lower!  It was only $30, and as I had no idea what lucite would usually go for, I figured that wasn't bad for a purse and bought it.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised when I started researching and looking up comparable pieces.  That was quite a deal!  So, I also researched how to shine her up a bit, for she was dusty and tarnished after being in that booth so long.  Let me share my knowledge with you guys!

Tips For Cleaning Lucite

On the actual plastic part of the purse, certain things can be done to get her back to her original awesomeness.  The best thing to clean Lucite is simply some water with a mild soap or detergent in it.  Lucite doesn't discolor, so any stains are probably on the surface.  You could probably use Windex or a glass cleaner as well to get a streak-free shine.

However, not everything can be fixed.  Any cracks or warped pieces can't really be patched or fixed.  However, some sources say that scratches can be buffed away, though I can't find too many specifics on that, and I would imagine it would require special tools.

Tips For Cleaning Metal Accents

Many Lucite purses, like mine, have metal accents.  Oftentimes they are gold in color and tend to be brass or brass-plated metals.  To clean them off, here are a few tips.

1.  First, test the metal to see what kind it is.

A good way to do this is to put a magnet to it and see if it sticks.  If it does, you know it's not pure brass and it's likely a different metal all together or just brass plating.  

A magnet stuck to my purse, so I looked for other clues.  I looked on the bottom where the purse gets a lot of wear, and I could see a bit of a coppery shine coming through, so I'm guessing my purse has copper accents that are brass plated.

2.  If you have a plating on the purse, be careful.

Plating is often thin and can be easily rubbed off with abrasive materials.  It may be best to apply some elbow grease to remove tarnish as best you can, then leave the purse as is.  After a couple scrubbing tries, this is what I decided to do.

3.  For copper and *sometimes* brass...

You can remove tarnish with:

- ketchup (works best with copper)

- lemon juice

- 1/2 c white vinegar, 1 T salt, and hot tap water (or rub the solution on the metal parts and let it sit for 15-20 minutes)

- metal polish (duh)