[Smokey Joe]

Old Arn--this has been discussed endlessly on this and other fora.

There are eleventy-one Mickey Mouse ways to clean brass without using a vibratory tumbler, and every single way has its adherents who swear by it. The rest of us just clean our brass with our vibratory tumblers and wonder when the others will come to their senses.

You've had some good suggestions for keeping lead exposure down while using a tumbler.

I've BTDT with cleaning brass, including hand-cleaning each piece, washing and drying them with detergent, and using various horrid chemicals to clean the brass. I thought I was being smart and saving the cost of a tumbler. I wasn't. I was wasting my time putzing.

When you dry the brass, either it takes days, or if you do it in the oven, you risk accidentally annealing the brass.

As to chemical exposure, there is some, no matter what method you use, other than pure water and a rag (which would take next to forever!) And speaking of chemical exposure, who wants to wash brass in the same machine that does your underwear???

Just get yourself a vibratory tumbler, follow the suggestions for minimizing Pb exposure, buy a bag of fine-ground corncob lizard bedding @ a pet store (exact same thing as corncob tumbling medium, but cheaper) and be done with it. Wear a surgical mask while filling/emptying the tumbler, if you're still concerned.

(Nota Bene: There is also coarse corncob lizard bedding, which will stick itself inside yr cases and be the very devil to pry out of each case. Get the FINE lizard bedding!!)

You can get a tumbler for ~ $40. Never mind brands; they're all built alike. (Mine is a Berry's, FWIW.) Then while you're cleaning your brass you can also be doing something else much more interesting.