Chrome cleaning with our new metal polish formula.
8 July 2011
We never thought we could get our Metal Polish formula better, but we did. We have changed the formula slightly to make something easier to use, more effective on chrome and usable for machine polishing on the bigger jobs, like bull bars, chequer plate and alloy roll over hoops. You will feel the bottle is a little bit lighter and more liquid, as we have a new cleaner and diminishing type of abrasive in it, that works to great affect on any polishable metal surface. Read on for our best tips on using this to quickly clean chromed surfaces.
CHROME CLEANING
We recently had to give the ex Paul Fahey 1966 Shelby Trans Am Mustang a full detail when it went to it's first ever race event. Casey took charge of all the polishing duties as they had lost their lustre as it had been 9 years since this car was restored, and after few years sitting in the workshop, (while we waited for the mechanics to get some spare to finally get the ultra exotic Gurney Westlake engine running). the chrome had become quite dirty and pitted. So here are some quick tips and pointers when using this new polish on chrome surfaces. As you can see by the results it works a treat!
This photo above shows the dirty, pitted chrome. You need to be quite careful in what you use to clean this up. Chrome is a plated material and if you use a harsh abrasive polish you will get scratch marks that can not be removed, unless you re-plate it.. This is one reason why we reformulated with our new abrasive and cleaners, to get a great finish with chrome. Important to note that In some extreme cases of pitting, the Metal Polish, or anything else for that matter will not work, the only thing that can be done to bring up the finish is to re-plate the chromed surface.
First step is to clean the dirt and other contaminants off with a good cleaner, our Naked Glass or Clean Detail are perfect for this. Spray on and wipe down with a microfibre cloth like our Big Softie to get a smear free finish.
As you can see now, the dirt and marks are gone but the pitting remains. Now it is time to use the Metal Polish and gently clean the pitting off, do not apply the polish aggressively as this will break down the abrasive and mark the chrome, A gentle circular motion will activate the cleaners and keep the abrasive qualities at bay.
Less is best.. Only use a small amount of polish at a time, a 20 cent piece on our microfibre Dirty Deeds cloth. this should be enough to do about half the bar pictured. Use too much polish and it does not work that well. After gently polishing the surface, buff it off with a clean microfibre cloth to get a brilliant shiny surface!
Yes, it should feel really nice to touch.
All done, and as you can see in the image above, it is quite a big difference between the way it was earlier and after being cleaned. But this is not the end of the process, to keep this chrome from doing the same again it is very important to maintain the finish, so do the following step.
Protect and enhance the chrome by waxing it or giving it a quick clean with our Fully Slick protective detailing spray. This will seal in that beautiful chrome shine and adds important protection to the surface, so the pitting cannot come back. From there keep the chromed areas clean with either the Naked Glass or the Clean Detail spray. Both these products will not smear and leave you with a beautiful reflective finish.
Here are the all important links to all our products used in this demonstration.
Hope this helps you with using the new Metal Polish on chrome to get an epic result. If you want a more Metal Polish tips check our big metal polishing article on our website here.
If you have any questions, please email info@bowdensown.com.au or FREECALL our office on 1800 351 308.
Love your car,
Dan Bowden
