I restore Vintage motorcycles and never, NEVER touch Chrome with ANY metal....not tinfoil, not 00000000 steel wool, nada, nunca!
ALL metals infuse the Chrome with micro-scratches...think a gritty wax cloth on a jet black sports car hood......
Oxalic acid cleans chrome.....so I use this....I wrote this a couple years ago:
How to re-new Chrome without touching it with any abrasives!
Several years ago, I stumbled onto a “trick” for cleaning up old chrome that gives amazing results. I found that using The Works and letting the chrome pieces soak for 4 hours then rinsing with cold water and drying well, you look at the results!
No, using this method won’t fill pitting but it will clean and will remove rust from chrome better than any other method I’ve ever found in 40 years of doing true restorations.
I buy this stuff by the basket load. I might buy 20-30 bottles at a time but when you are using as much as I do, it’s well worth it at only a dollar per bottle. Use a container that most closely resembles the size & shape of the parts you are treating. So, for pipes, I use a long, narrow plastic container but for smaller parts, I might use a rectangular shaped container. You only want enough Works to cover the parts.
As the formula is used, the rust will manifest itself as a “yellow dust”. That yellow dust should have a way to drop off the part being treated so you wouldn’t want to for instance, to lay the part rust side up because then the rust can’t “fall away” from the part….but if you lay it rust side down, the yellow dust can fall to the bottom of the container leaving your part nice and clean.
Thee most important thing is to get the correct formula….you want the one with Oxalic acid, NOT hydrochloric acid because that will etch and ruin your chrome forever! You want this stuff: The Works (tub & shower cleaner) and there should be a picture accompanying this write-up. I added the pic because they are changing over from the Green bottle to the blue one…but BE CAREFUL, they already have a Blue bottle for TOILET CLEANER and YOU DON’T WANT THAT STUFF!
jeff
PS. I don't have the before treatment/after treatment pics here at work but they are impressive. You're free to take what you've learned and figure out how to apply it.
Found them.....same exact parts.....
