Brass Tumbling Tip/Trick

[Subwrx300]

Here's a tip I thought I'd share in case some haven't tried or don't know about it.

When dry tumbling brass (whether corncob, walnut or other), cut up a dryer sheet (new or used but new works better) into 3-4" squares. Toss those into the media with your brass.

The super fine fabric of the dryer sheet catches the dust, lead, carbon fouling and keeps your media cleaner, your brass virtually dust free and pulls any crap buildup out of your tumbler. They usually last 2-4 tumbles before they are pitch black.

Shortens my tumble times to about 20-30 mins for bolt guns and to 1 hour with Semi-auto brass if I'm just cleaning for dirt/carbon on outside of case. Brass comes out of tumbler media with way less dust, lessening the amount of cleaning needed before resizing, saving your dies from extra wear over time.

I've switched from corncob to walnut as it seems to work faster and comes out of cases easier.

Here's a before and after:

Good luck and happy reloading!

 

[Juggerxxx]

Awesome tip. I do the same thing but cut long 1” strips and pinch one end between the lid and the bowl. You are correct; this works very well.

 

[natdscott]

What is your finding about how much, if any, of the waxy dryer sheet stuff ends up in the media/on the casings?

I kinda doubt it is influential either way..

 

[Xander3Zero]

I do the same thing and haven't noticed any residue from the dryer sheets ending up on the casings. I just use plain dryer sheets, no scent or anything weird like that. When I feel the dryer sheets by hand, I don't notice any waxy stuff or residue on them that could end up transferring to the brass.

Before I started using the dryer sheets, I wasn't noticing any dust on the cleaned cases like the OP mentioned, but you can't argue with the fact that the dryer sheets come out looking fairly black so they are obviously picking up a lot of the dust/dirt/carbon residue which is a good thing. I use corncob media.

 

[Sieg]

Great tip, thank you

 

[spife7980]

I used to try the dryer sheets, just made something that needed to be thrown out. The media still dulls round the same and becomes less effective at the same rate. The cases never really had dust that stuck to them to in the first place after a tumble in the media separator. I never noticed it making the cases cleaner in anyway.

Rice hasnt made any dust since Ive switched to it. It does eventually gum up with enough lube to coat it but so does cob, its just easier to feel it on the rice. Cob looks like cat litter in that it clumps up, rice just feels sort of tacky.

 

[Subwrx300]

Lyman walnut media (untreated) has a fair amount of walnut dust from the crushing process. New media has more but the carbon and dirt from brass also has to go somewhere.

The dryer sheets simply help take that crap out; there is a noticeable difference in the appearance is the media after several uses with dirty sooty brass. Dryer sheets seem (and even paper towel to a lesser extent) help media stay newer looking, which to me, means less crap swirling in with already dirt brass.

 

[Stpilot12]

The dryer sheets do work pretty good with walnut, but overall I think the rice is cleaner and does just as good or better job on the brass.

 

[pmclaine]

I used to use the dryer sheets but even buying the ones with no added aroma I found that my media would start to gum up and I suspect it had to do with the fats and oils that the sheet is impregnated with.

Part of the problem was that I tumbled too long, 1.5 hours or so. The heat of the motor would heat up the corn cob and it helped to melt the fats and oils, releasing them into the media.

I started noticing black schmeg on the cone at the center of the vib and at the "waterline" of the media. Eventually it starts to leave black gum on the brass.

A capful of mineral spirits in the media helps with dust.

Now I only tumble for 1/2 hour max and Im finding I get plenty clean brass to protect my dies.

Really thats all cleaning is useful for is protecting your dies (and eventually your chamber) from getting scratched up by field dirt as you ram the case into them.

Less is probably more.

Next time at the hardware store Im going to get a plug timer that will let me adjust down from the standard 30 minute, 1.5 hr, 3 hr setting my current timer has.

If 30 minutes works good I want to see if twenty minutes will be better.

 

[TripleBull]

Dryers sheets vary quite a bit from one product to another. Some use clay as the primary additive, others use fatty acids and some use quaternary ammonium salts. Quats act as a surfactant, so in a tumbler with corn, rice or walnut, they would act like a mild soap. I doubt that a little piece of dryer sheet would dominate a big bowl full of rice in terms of residue left on brass. Media from wet or dry tumbling do pick up lead, mercury, etc., so keep that in mind. It's one of the dirtier/more toxic parts of what we do.

 

[SageRatSafaris]

Dryers sheets vary quite a bit from one product to another. Some use clay as the primary additive, others use fatty acids and some use quaternary ammonium salts. Quats act as a surfactant, so in a tumbler with corn, rice or walnut, they would act like a mild soap. I doubt that a little piece of dryer sheet would dominate a big bowl full of rice in terms of residue left on brass. Media from wet or dry tumbling do pick up lead, mercury, etc., so keep that in mind. It's one of the dirtier/more toxic parts of what we do.

That's a knowledge bomb I wasn't expecting! You sound like a laundry expert, so I've got to ask: why do new t-shirts feel slippery before the first washing?

 

[TripleBull]

That's a knowledge bomb I wasn't expecting! You sound like a laundry expert, so I've got to ask: why do new t-shirts feel slippery before the first washing?

LOL, no laundry expert, but I've (unfortunately) worked with surfactants and related chemistry. T-shirts can be treated with a variety of products that make them feel slippery. Years ago, some shops used Scotchguard - that was frowned upon because it contained perfluorinated compounds that are toxic and very persistent in the environment. So 3M just turned to another fluorinated compound in 2003 that isn't as widely known to be toxic and persistent. Trust me, they are on YOUR SIDE!

You can find all kinds of crap on t-shirts. Nanomaterials, bacteriostats, microbicides, probably extract of bat poop as far as I know. Patagonia t-shirts have metallic silver on them, so yer sweat don't stank. Face it, you don't want to really know what they are contaminating you with these days - it's too depressing.