A successful spit-shine

[whiderwarde]

I've heard from a few sources that spit/pipe ash (okay, any ash will do) are an excellent way to polish brass, silver, etc. I tried it out on my 10 year old Zippo lighter today. I can't believe how well it worked: ash, a little spit, and a Kleenex and the thing looks almost new.
I just thought I'd share my success. Give it a try on Zippos and pipe bands.

 

[Richard Burley]

A friend of mine's mother had me save cigar ash for her to use in removing scratches from her coffee table, among other things. She always specified cigar ash, though. I used to save it in a jar with a lid. If you shake it once in a while the ash crumbles and "reduces down." It's amazing how heavy the jar eventually becomes. From time to time I would gift her hundreds of dollars, apparently, worth of cigar ash. Yeah, it works. She said it's a really fine abrasive.