Does anyone have any remedies for cymbal cleaning that you can make out of any old household item?

Buying brass cleaner or cymbal cleaner isn't an option for me right now, and theres got to be a way to shine and get the grime off your cymbals without having to pay for cymbal cleaner.

I used lemons and white vinegar the other day to clean several pairs of cymbals and it worked amazingly. I cut the lemons in half, rubbed one half of a lemon and its juice on a side of a cymbal, let it sit for about a minute or so, soaked a rag in vinegar, wrung it out so it was still wet but not dripping, and wiped down the cymbal soaked in lemon juice. I then rubbed them down with some soapy water, and dried em off. They were shining like new!

I have given up on cleaning drumset cymbals. I live in the south where humidities are high,...it's a loosing battle for drumsets. In fact a cymbal rep told a music store down here not to clean cymbals because it takes layers off the brass. I heard old school jazz players like some of the build up for character in sound.

However...and this is a big however, you can't have dirty cymbals out on a field situation. They can't look like crap so I could see cymbalists would want them to be as clean as possible. I have heard people use the lemon juice & it has worked well. Sounds like a great tip, I will try it.

Whatever you do make sure that you DO NOT use Zud or Brasso, trust me. It corrodes the poor things like crazy.

The best thing to do is to buy actual polish just in case, though my friend and I found some good (and cheap ways) to take care of 'em.

I can't currently recall how you could clean them, but I know that to polish them you can use a household cleaner like windex, 409, etc. (Make sure that when you clean them you take the pads and straps off! Our newbies are mindless and never remember!)

Though, of recent times, our tech says that all chemicals are bad, no matter what.