Recommendation for stainless steel and aluminium cleaner

[tudorsailor]

There have been lots of teak care threads. How about recommendations on how to rejuvenate stainless steel and aluminium. There are loads of products out there. I have recently used Autosol Marine Shine. Of course I do wonder if the specialist marine products are any different to the specialist car products

I have aluminium fairleads that are pretty dull. Can they ever get shiny?

Thanks

 

[rob2]

Aluminium for marine use is hard anodised and really cannot be cleaned beyond washing off any salt and grime. If you were to polish off the crud, it would take the anodising off too and the surface would then most likely start to "rot". The natural self anodising doesn't work with seawater as the oxide produced is not densely packed and allows the process to continue indefinitely. Similar with S/S, although when it gets really tatty then Autosol makes it look great for a while - no choice if you get rust streaks from welds, etc.

So, no easy answer long-term. Often a scrub with soapy water and non-scratch scourer is as good as it gets...

Rob.

 

[Manuel]

Stainless is easy to polish with the correct disk band or belt on a polisher or angle grinder. Talk to a stainless fabricator to get the grade and type. As tudorsailor says, with aluminium you are stuck as the hard anodising cannot be reproduced outside a plating plant.

 

[oldsaltoz]

An application of a good wax after polishing stainless will lengthen the tome between cleaning.

 

[vyv_cox]

'Creme Cleaner' is excellent for stainless steel components such as stanchions, bimini and hood frame, etc. Most supermarkets sell a version of it but we find the best ones are French, especially Casino. Much cheaper than a specialist product and easier to clean off.

 

[beebok]

goodmorning,for the aluminum i just wipe over with wd40 it cleans and leaves is looking almost like new for a little will.

 

[seamaster30]

There have been lots of teak care threads. How about recommendations on how to rejuvenate stainless steel and aluminium. There are loads of products out there. I have recently used Autosol Marine Shine. Of course I do wonder if the specialist marine products are any different to the specialist car products

I have aluminium fairleads that are pretty dull. Can they ever get shiny?

Thanks

Barkeepers Friend

 

[tudorsailor]

Aluminium for marine use is hard anodised and really cannot be cleaned beyond washing off any salt and grime. If you were to polish off the crud, it would take the anodising off too and the surface would then most likely start to "rot".

Rob.

Autosol Marine Shine does not seem very abrasive and is sold as a polish. Am I doing any harm using this to clean off the accumulated crud off the aluminium?

Tudordoc

 

[Marine Reflections]

Autosol Marine Shine does not seem very abrasive and is sold as a polish. Am I doing any harm using this to clean off the accumulated crud off the aluminium?

Tudordoc

No you wont be doing any harm. just protect after with wax as someone posted.

To restore and take scratches out of stainless steel use 2500 wet & dry paper, then polish up with your autosol.

Anodisied aluminium use caution... your autoshine is about as course as you would want to go. protect well with good paste wax.

Why are zinc cobolt coatings not used more for marine applications?

 

[Ruffles]

Brasso will remove rust stains from stainless steel.

 

[Leonidas]

goodmorning,for the aluminum i just wipe over with wd40 it cleans and leaves is looking almost like new for a little will.

Same for stainless steel. it works a treat. Need to wash with fresh water from time to time to get rid of the salt. For a number of years before laying up and after washing, I have usually covered all stainless steel with a thin layer of vaselin, which I wipe all clean with w40 and a rag on recommisioning. It has been working for me.

 

[colvic987]

autosol is a decent cleaner of the metals you need to clean.

but i am sure this would help?