How to Clean Copper Bottom Revere Ware Pots and Pans

Since our small IKEA kitchen remodel is complete, I’ve been slowly curating a collection of my favorite brass-bottom pans called Revere Ware. They cook without leaching toxins into your food. Plus they remind me of my childhood. These are no longer made, so you have to search for them in thrift stores or at garage sales, etc. I like to haunt a local Goodwill now and then and have a small collection of copper bottom Revere ware pots. As they are second-hand, they are quite dirty. This post will show you how to clean copper bottom revere ware pots and pans to get them sparkling like they are brand new!

Why Use Revere Ware Pots and Pans:

Below is a photo of some of my recent Revere Ware pots. You’ve probably seen these around as they were pretty popular in the U.S. from the 1930’s onward. Production was stopped in 2018. So why do I want Revere Ware in my new kitchen? Well, they are made of stainless steel with a copper bottom so they will not be leaching chemicals into my food. They are very durable and can take a real scrubbing with a harsh stainless steel scrubber on those days I get food really cooked into my pans (lol don’t judge, you know it happens!). Plus I like the look! They remind me of simpler times, and the copper bottom shines up really nice.

Here is a closer look at the Revere Ware pot. See the dingy brown bottom? That’s copper. Let’s clean that up and make it shine!

How to Clean Revere Ware Pots:

Below is a photo of a very dirty copper bottom Revere Ware pot. That’s some burnt-on, long-term grime. But don’t worry. We can clean this up and make that copper shine.

Bar Keepers Friend is hands-down the best cleaner for this type of thing. If you really want to DIY it, you can try scrubbing with a lemon and salt or baking soda. But since this is some heavy-duty dirt, I want to use the heavy-duty cleaner that I know works. Make sure to wear a good pair of gloves when using this stuff!

To clean the copper bottom Revere Ware pots, I started out with a small dab of Bar Keepers Friend on a blue soft scrub sponge as you can see in the photo below. Then simply start spreading the cleaner all around the sides and bottoms of the pots and pans you want to clean.

Pro tip: don’t rinse right away. The cleaner needs some time to sit on all that grime. Scrub it around and let it sit a bit.

Scrubbing Revere Ware Pots and Pans:

Below is a photo of me scrubbing the Bar Keepers Friend around a small Revere Ware sauce pan. As the cleaner sits on the copper, you will slowly start to see it change from a dull brown to shiny new copper!

Below is the shiny copper bottom on a freshly scrubbed Revere Ware pot. You can still see a little bit of grime on the sides. Don’t worry, I show you how to get rid of that too!

Below you can see my progress on some really tough grime. After using the blue soft scrubber, I decided to these pans are durable enough that they can take a real scrubbing with a stainless steel scrubber. Below I am using Bar Keepers Friend with a stainless steel scrubber and finally getting that really tough grime off!

Cleaned Copper Bottom Revere Ware Pots:

Here is my freshly scrubbed and truly clean copper bottom Revere Ware pot! Doesn’t that look great? You can see I have more to do in the sink. No going to lie, this does take some real scrubbing. Keep at it. Let the Bar Keepers Friend cleaner sit for 15 minutes or so. Then scrub some more. You’ll get there!

There are my sparkling copper bottom pots and pans! All that elbow grease was worth it just to see these shine like new again.

Let me know in the comments if this post was helpful. Making old things new again keeps them out of the landfill. Plus why would you want to throw something so pretty and useful away?

Other Great Uses for Bar Keepers Friend:

Did I mention how awesome and useful Bar Keepers Friend cleaner is? While letting some of the tougher pans sit, I used the extra cleaner on some white coffee mugs. Coffee stains can build up over time and be really tough to clean. Bar Keepers Friend cleans that dull coffee grime right up! Makes my white mugs look like new.

I like to clean my ceramic mugs before guests come to stay. That way they have clean mugs and don’t wonder if I actually wash my dishes! Check out the kitchen remodel and where I keep my coffee mugs in the kitchen post here.

I was pretty selective when decided what coffee mugs to keep in the remodeled kitchen. This black and white rooster mug made the cut and is one of my favorite morning mugs to drink my coffee. It has phrase written on the inside that reads, “Rise and Shine” that simply makes me happy.