Brasso is not a wax or a protective coating, but rather a polishing compound. I believe it was introduced around 1920 with lots of volatile hydrocarbons. Today's Brasso is water and alcohol based. I became familiar with it in the Army, since it was used widely to polish everything from brass hand rails to military uniform badges and insignias. Brasso imparts a very high shine and mirror finish, so would not be good for matte finishes. I find Brasso more abrasive than many other auto products on the market today like Mag Polish, and paint rubbing compound and prefer those if a high polish is desired.
The original Brasso contained stoddard solvent, silica, and ammonia that cut through wax and lacquer coating in order to shine the metal below. Today, Brasso contains ethanol, oxalic acid, isopropanol, ammonium hydroxide, limestone, and pumice.
