I've been singing the praises of Jules over at Pancakes and French Fries for quite some time now. After all, she did remove the largest amount of red Sharpie marker from her family sofa we've ever seen before! She's back again, this time taming 50 years of tarnish from some brass hardware with three pantry staples: salt, flour and white vinegar!

Jules came across a dresser with hardware that, although beautiful, was starting to show its age. Instead of replacing it with something new, she instead mixed up a combination of salt, white vinegar and flour. The mixture is applied to each piece and allowed to sit overnight.

When cleaned, they looked good as the day they were made. The results speak for themselves, so hop over to Pancakes and French Fries to pick up all the details (including a tip to make a triple batch to simply submerge the pieces instead of painting the mixture on). There's no scrubbing and something oddly cathartic about covering your brass accents with something resembling oatmeal... (maybe I watched too much Double Dare as a child...that's my story and I'm sticking too it.)

Related: 1,001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

(Image: Pancakes and French Fries)