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Best way to clean chrome/metal parts?

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danielnorton

danielnorton

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As I plan for my next trip to see my Sprite, I'm trying to assemble all the tools/items needed to make as much progress as possible.

I figure while I'm working on those brake tappets, my wife can start on the clean up. The front and rear bumpers both have small "pits" of rust as do the hub caps which are the simple round ones.

I figure 000 steel wool will be part of the kit, but any tricks or recommendations on cleaning products would be great.

-Daniel
 
For the initial clean up (to assess if they will look good enough for your use), I'd clean them with detergent and medium bristle brush. Then WD40 and extra fine steel wool. Then you can decide if they are going to clean up enough to warrant further cleaning (maybe with a MILD acid).
 
A good chrome cleaner from the auto store works well.
 
I'd get multiple opinions on this, but I've found that chrome polish and an old tee shirt (in good shape so it doesn't scratch anything) and some pressure when polishing will take light rust pits away just fine.
 
Not sure I would use the steel wool, it does scratch.
 
I guess I was picturing chrome that was full of "crazing lines". But they are right. Start with something gentle, and move up to more drastic measures as needed.
 
Steel wool will also deposit steel, which will then rust. A friend learned that the hard way on some stainless bits on his boat. If you do end up needing something like steel wool, buy BRONZE wool from the (overpriced) marine supplier. It is also softer, so won't scratch as readily.
 
Two marine products I have used with success are Cleaning Detail (a cleanser w/very mild abrasive) & Finess (A very fine compound polish)... An old trick is to use a pad made of aluminum foil! - anyone else ever tried that?
 
Well, I'm glad I checked here first, I probably would have scratched up everything with my steel wool. The stuff all looks pretty good, just lots of little "pimples" of rust. The insides of the hub caps are pretty rusted though, maybe I'll steel wool those since you won't be able to see 'em. I'll pick up some chrome cleaner and grab an old t-shirt and see where that leads me.
 
We bicycle-restoration geeks (https://www.nonlintec.com/bikepages) run into this all the time. Usually, we need to derust something that is pretty badly corroded, in preparation for painting or getting it plated. It sounds like the problem here is a lot smaller than that--just small pitting.

Two ways to remove rust chemically: the first is with Naval Jelly, actually phosphoric acid. This takes off the rust, but leaves behind a layer of iron phosphate. That helps prevent further rusting, giving you time at least to wax or paint the cleaned surface. This protection, by itself, won't last long. It is a mess for plating, though, because the iron phosphate has to be removed. The instructions warn you against using it on chrome, but unless you have exceptionally fine chrome or leave it on a long time, you probably won't see any etching of the chrome. Also, a lot of "chrome" is really bright nickel, and it doesn't harm this either, with reasonable care.

The other way is with hydrochloric acid, which you can buy at the hardware store as muriatic acid. This should be diluted maybe 4 or 5 to 1. (Always add the acid to the water, not the water to the acid.) Just soak the part a few minutes, rinse well, wipe with a rag and the rust comes off like magic. Unfortunately, it will rerust very quickly (like, minutes), so do this only if you are going to wax, paint, or otherwise preserve the surface right away.

A few polishes will remove minor rust, too. I keep a variety of metal polishes around--they all work better or worse on various metals in various circumstances.

I never use anything abrasive on chrome. Just too much danger of scratching. Many bike-restorers swear by brass wool, but I haven't tried it.
 
You can always paint the insides of the hubcaps with rust olum after scrubing them. Not a big deal.
 
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