Before refinishing, the drawer handles on this dresser had become quite tarnished.

They didn't look bad against the original medium-brown stained wood, but I stained the wood a deep red color, and I felt the handles needed a cleaner look.

I removed the screws on the inside of each drawer and pulled the handles off.

These handles are brass-plated metal, not solid brass. I wanted to make these handles look better, so I decided to try to remove the tarnish.

I put the hardware in a dishpan and squirted some Brasso® on the metal.

Then I used an old paint brush to dab the paste around.

The Brasso paste started to dry out after a few minutes. Since the label stated that it contained ammonia, I decided to try adding some household ammonia to thin the paste. After some brushing, the ammonia mixed completely with the paste. I was able to create quite a "lather" after a few minutes of brushing.

After about 30 minutes of soaking in diluted Brasso, I put all the handles in a plastic crate and washed them with a garden hose.

When the handles were dry I buffed them on a wire wheel mounted on my bench grinder.

However, I discovered that it was easy to buff through the brass plating, so I had to keep the buffing to a minimum.

Wear eye protection if you do this. I once had a wire wheel buffer throw a piece of wire in my face. Stuck right in my forehead.

The handle on top was given the acid bath. Note that the acid didn't remove the tarnish, but it did change the color of the brass. I'm guessing that the acid attacks the zinc near the surface, leaving more copper and giving the reddish color.

The handle on the bottom had been cleaned using Brasso, then buffed on the wire wheel.

I set each handle on a finished drawer to compare the color. I liked the reddish-brass better, so I decided to acid-treat all of the handles.

I put all 16 drawer handles in a dishpan and poured in some CLR. Actually I used Home Depot's ZEP brand of Calcium-Lime-Rust remover, which works just as well and cost less.

I didn't even have enough liquid to cover the handles completely, so I used an old paint brush to dab the acid around, making sure each handle remained wet.

I poured a couple of ounces of nitrocellulose lacquer into a plastic cup and thinned it about 25% with lacquer thinner. I poured the thinned lacquer in my spray gun and sprayed each drawer handle.

I'll note that lacquer is available in ordinary spray cans.

Here's a better picture of my 5-minute support apparatus. You can see the blue bungee cord at the upper right.

After I sprayed all the hardware with lacquer, I let them hang for half an hour while they dried. Lacquer dries very fast, but it's not as durable as urethane.

When the handles were dry, I removed the wire hooks, and they were ready to be re-installed in the dresser.

After refinishing, the brass drawer handles looked much newer and cleaner.

Maybe some people prefer the "rustic" or "distressed" look of the handles before I removed the tarnish. That's understandable.

I felt that the original appearance didn't do justice to the color and quality of the refinished dresser.