Metal polishes that you buy over the counter most likely contain ammonia, which can burn your skin and your sinuses. Sometimes they also could contain petroleum distillates that are poisonous to young children and pets. If you have a silver polish never use it on any other metal as it will tarnish it.
Alternative
Clean brass with lemon dipped in salt or with a paste made of equal parts of vinegar or lemon juice and salt.
Clean Copper with a paste of equal parts of vinegar, salt and flour.
Clean Chrome with Apple cider vinegar it will give it a lovely shine. You can just use a soft damp cloth to buff it up and then a dry one to shine.
For cleaning silver put the items in a bowl with a handful of washing soda and some aluminum foil cover the items with enough water to cover them. Make sure that all the silver is touching the foil at one place or another. Take the silver out and rinse in hot water and dry thoroughly.
For cleaning stainless steel items, soak them in warm water and then rub with lemon juice or vinegar before rinsing thoroughly.
For more metal cleaning recipes and solutions: search this site using the search word relating to the metal you are looking to clean.
