bronze in Hawaii

[kalianna]

I'm well acquainted with the effects of Hawaii weather on metal but our first visitor since the pandemic just brought us a beautiful bronze sculpture that she envisioned being out in the garden.  She said it would patina nicely.  That would be great except I don't trust that it won't either rot or become covered with mold.  Does anyone know how our weather affects bronze?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I have a few exterior door handles, and a decorative wall mounted bell that came with the house when I bought it.  I believe they’re brass rather than bronze, but both contain mostly copper.  They have held up better than any other exposed metal I have, even stainless steel.  I live near the ocean and the brass does develop a beautiful green/celadon patina as your friend said.  The stainless will pit without constant cleaning, and everything else rusts.  Even my anodized aluminum window frames will disintegrate into white powder in exposed cracks.

[tada]

Copper going up again. Watch out for those copper thieves. I look for and keep pre 1982 pennies which are 90% copper. Since probably not worth looking for pre 1964 silver quarters these days!

[eightfingers2.0]

Google “bronze disease”.

Here’s an example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_disease

[terracore]

I had problems with bronze disease on some of my Roman coins. I wound up taking them to my work office where A/C runs 24/7. I think modern bronze is more resistant than the stuff they were making 2,000 years ago.

[kalianna]

Thanks for the responses. The sculptor had already warned me about bronze disease from chloride. I read more online and it seems like washing it with soap and water, letting it dry thoroughly and then using trewax should keep it in good shape for six months at a time. If I remember to actually do it.