Goes like this.
Alkaline solutions clean
Acid solutions remove metal
After an alkaine solution has cleaned the metal surface it will start to dissolve the metal forming oxides that are dark
Acid solutions will not do this as the salts are soluiable but they will make all of the holes bigger just the same as leaving a carb in a bucket of carb cleaner for a week.
If you take the carb out and rinse it immediatly it will not discolour.
A slight acid rinse will help.
Then it must be dried quickly as you have a fresh clean metal surface that will oxadise immediately.