I would avoid sodium hydroxide (lye). I'd be afraid of chemical reactions weakening the brass. Go for the tumbler. With all the money you are saving by reloading you can justify the expense and a tumbler with corn cob does a great job with a bit of polishing liquid added in.
I am here in Stillwater too and you are welcome to throw some brass in my tumbler if you need to.
I am using lizard litter and my brass is very matte. Clean but no shine at all. Any ideas on what to change?
I concur with the majority on here. Avoid chemicals... you may not realize the reaction it is causing with your brass.
If you're doing things on the cheap, make your own rotary tumbler or find a used rock tumbler at a garage sale or thrift store... then you can also buy Kay-Kob 100% corn cob media at most pet or farm supply stores (it's litter or bedding) and use it to help with media costs. You can get a big bag for not much. Its larger than normal cleaning media but you can mix it or if you have larger cases you're cleaning just go with it... it works.
If you're doing things on the cheap, make your own rotary tumbler or find a used rock tumbler at a garage sale or thrift store... then you can also buy Kay-Kob 100% corn cob media at most pet or farm supply stores (it's litter or bedding) and use it to help with media costs. You can get a big bag for not much. Its larger than normal cleaning media but you can mix it or if you have larger cases you're cleaning just go with it... it works.
Avoid chemicals which contain ammonia, it does bad stuff to brass.
A little mineral spirits will usually hold the dust and grit in suspension. That is probably what is causing the matte finish. When I start getting the matte look, I dump a couple of capfulls of mineral spirits in the tumbler and its good to go for another several hundred rounds. Blitzfike
