We are moving into a home that has a new copper top roof above a bay window... its nice a shiny copper now however I've seen some others turn black or green. Is there a protectant or cleanser to use to prevent that from happening?
A packet of unsweetened kool-aid will do the trick. Mix it up with 1/2 the water recommened and use a green scrub pad like the one you use for dish washing. Personally i like the way copper turns, the green is tell tale of the copper underneath.
I haven't seen any black ones, but the green condition is called patina. This is a desirable effect that comes from copper sulfate interacting bare copper. If you don't want it, paint it with RUSTOLEUM.
Copper will acquire a patina finish over a period of time. This is the nice blue-green color that you may have seen. Black is usually the result of algae, which should be properly cleaned. There are some products that may keep the copper shiny for a while. The problem is none of them will last for a significant amount of time. As the products wear, you will get an uneven patina that is not nice to look at or easy to correct. You would need to clean to bare copper an let the aging process start again. You are better to leave it alone and let nature take its course on this one. If you really want a shiny copper colored finish, the metal needs to be replaced with a painted product.
