Need help with washing/degreasing problem

[tomodell]

This is my first plating job. I have several (about 80) brass parts to old Penn Fishing reels that I need to nickel plate. They were all severly corroded, I have removed all of the old plating, sanded and buffed them to a high shine and made them ready to plate.
First, I knew that I needed to make sure they are clean and free of grease.
Since many of the parts had wax stuck on them from buffing compound I thought they needed a good scrubbing. I simply washed them with a sponge and Dawn dish soap (apple scent) in my garage sink (tap water). They looked great when I was fininshed and I put them in a cardboard box to dry. After drying, I discovered, to my horror, they had all turned brown with botchy stains on them. This brown stuff would not wash off. It appears that the soap I used reacted with the brass.
The only way I could get rid of this brown stuff was to buff them again. I did this, and they look good again, but now I need to de-grease them again. What can I use that won't mess up my brass?
Tom

[cbrooks]

Unfortunately brass will oxidize almost immediately. I would not clean them until I was ready to actually plate. Once you have started do not stop. You could use the pickle 4 to deoxidize prior to plating just to insure that you have a pristine surface.