I saw the article about P.E. and Vinegar .As you know vinegar is caustic in and of itself .This is why it can work .Make sure the P.E to be soaked is spotlessly clean first .
I use another route here . I create a mixture of Comet cleanser and warm water .I drop in the clean P.E and swirl it in the mix gently .When I did the rails on the Wisconsin model for Nauticus and BaD shipmodels that’s how I did them .
Promise not to laugh ? Another proven method is to lay your P.E in a shallow soap dish . Cover with warm water and use a Polident cleaning tablet .That works great as well . Make sure the tablet DOES NOT ! sit on the brass or steel . Tanker - Builder
The Mix on the Comet versus water is 25 % comet and 75% water .More or less . Make sure the Polident is the Smokers formula . There’s one more . Promise not to laugh ? Take that empty pickle jar full of pickle juice and soak the washed brass in there .The Vinegar and pickling spices do a nice job and that way you get to use every last drop of the jar contents .
I wash the PE fret in two different materials- first a detergent/water mix, and then in a solvent, either lacquer thinner or MEK. Then I use a good primer made for metal priming, either Krylon or Duplicolor.
I don’t know about Minnesota , But if you lived in certain parts of good old California you had to have a permit to use stuff like M.E.K ( Methyl Ethyl Ketone )and it is a very dangerous chemical if you don’t use a good filter mask !
Yes, MEK is very hard to get here, even though it is legal to use it. I kept looking for it at my local building supply company and scored with a quart can. However, lacquer thinner is readily available here and works almost as well.