Stainless Steel Polish

I served an apprenticeship as a Toolmaker and polishing stainless steel was a regular job.

First thing....there are many types of stainless steel and if you have a cheaper type of stainless on the table then you are doomed. You will never really get it shiney to last.

If it is a good grade then it will shine like a mirror and stay shiney.


The best way is to chose a time when you have got at least an hour to spare.

Go to a good iron mongers and get a full range of wire wool, start rubbing with medium and work your way down to the very finest. By now it will be shiney.

Another alternative is to buy a range of emery cloths (sand paper for metal) and start with medium and work your way down to very smooth. This would be my favoured method. One tip if you use emery cloth, use a small block of wood to hold the cloth, it will get better results ten times faster.

Then polish and buff up with auto salvo and polish like hell with a good clean cloth. If you have an electric drill with a wool mop, so much the better.

It all depends on the quality of the steel.

Regards

Mick

NB It is possible your table is laquered and that will go dull after time, also looking at the size of your table, I would allow 2 hours.

Well Mick you would think the old John Lewis would be reasonable quality, but I suppose in retrospect it wasn't very expensive.

If I need to go down the route you mention is this a long term solution or will I be doing this every week?

One other thing is this was an x demo which meant yes it was cheaper, but also presumably played with by hundreds of people, my hope therefore being to get the job done once and for always.

It's difficult to say without seeing the table.

If it is cheap then it will be weekly. The worst enemy of stainless is finger prints. I wore cloth gloves when handling it.

If it is medium or better quality then it will last for weeks in between autosalvo polishing.

The emery cloth is once every couple of years.

I suspect it has a coating of laquer which indicates a cheaper grade stainless.

The stainless in catering kitchens is usually top end 18/8 quality.

Regards

Mick

Oil is ok only after it has been emerey clothed.

The emerey smooths the surface and makes it more reflective and shiney by flattening it. The flatter the shinier.

Mick

I've been told that 3M's stainless steel polish is the business.

Here's a link.

gary

baby oil ! i too kid you not

neil

I use a product called "Shiny Sinks" available from most supermartkets.

Apply with a damp cloth (it's basically a mild metal polish) then wipe with a clean damp cloth and buff with a dry cloth or towel.

The key with most cleaners is to buff off all moisture to avoid any smear marks.

I have a stainless steel cooker, cooker hood and splash back.
They all look great even 5 years on.

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......

You’ll need to find out if the steel is lacquered before you go near it with any kind of abrasive cleaner. If it is lacquered you won’t be able to polish it up as the steel is under the lacquer (obviously!). You’d have to either put up with the dull look or remove all the lacquer with paint stripper, then routinely polish with some sort of mild abrasive cleaner.

A hell of a lot of hassle just to be fashionable Gary. ... At least you've got a beer handy.

Mr Tibbs

Do I spy a Hoegaarden glass there?



Regards,

Steve.

I suspect that the eficacy or otherwise of most of the above suggestions will depend on the coarseness or otherwise of the brushed finish on your table. If it's very coarse it will be a nightmare as there will be relatively deep "trenches" in the surface which will hold muck (finger grease, etc.) and will require harder rubbing to remove.

The baby oil suggestion is brilliant -- works a treat on a Linn top plate, but this is quite a coarse finish with no lacquer, which doesn't get touched in the normal course of events. You also need to use as little as you can get away with -- removing excess is harder than adding more.

If it isn't lacquered, consider doing this. We has an old (early 80s) Phillips dishwasher about 10 years ago. I painted all the brown plastic "dashboard" bits grey with eggshell-finish paint, and we stripped the white front panel (Nitromors), brushed the metal (several grades of emery) and lacquered it (aerosol alloy wheel lacquer). Whole thing took an afternoon and looked great, and lasted 8 years (dishwasher died). It then sat outside for 3 months, and still looked good (no rust or peeling of lacquer) on the sad day that I took it to the tip. And this wasn't even stainless...

Best;

Mark

Gary,

I know the answer and whilst all the above suggestions are good ideas, they aren't the best.

If the top is not lacquered use Micromesh abrasive cloth - the MX version is for metal - it works far better than abrasive papers. Work through the range, which starts at 120 and ends at 1200 grit sizes (more or less).

Then, instead of baby oil, use Renaissance Microcrystalline wax - less residue and will not take finger prints so easily. Also, this surface will protect against spilled cheap lager and Mac drool.

Like what Mr Tibbs and Mark EJ say, if its lacquered and the brush finish is deep you may well be f****d or in for a great deal of work.

Alex

Thank you all.

Alex how would I tell if it is laquered?

Also in comparsion to stainless stell at work, this table would appear to be a lot smoother finsh, a lot more shiney as well, but a darker shine, almost like there was a bit of bronze in there, if you know what I mean?

I have stopped drooling on my mac now, I want a G5.

Gary,

Why not email me some pics of it and I'll try to advise from there - can't tell much from the above. If not, I will finally have to come round!

Alternatively, even though that bronzy look could be rust or just crap steel, or, heaven forbid, a crap photo, you could decide to keep that look and call it patina instead of dirt or poor quality material. . .

Alex

Snigger, I will sort out a few photoes, but you really must get round.

I tested a small area with a bit of brasso, it bought it up really well, leading me to believe either its not stainless steel at all, or i pulled some laquer off.

I am not to worried, its a stunning table none the less and only cost 150 quid.

Probably the subject of another thread, but do any of you bitches know if it's possible to restore a Dualit toaster that has become tarnished (because I used stainless steel polish on it and it ain't stainless steel) to its former glory ? I was thinking that the best approach would be to have it professionally crushed and then buy a new one, but if any of you have more economical ideas (not involving angle-grinders) I'm game for a laugh.

Dualits have cast aluminium ends (some painted), with the centre section panelled in what appears to be stainless steel. Try a fairly vicious polish such as Peak (more abrasive than Brasso).

If it is Stainless Steel then try Autosol. It is available from Halfords. I used to use it on my bikes exhaust and the chrome bits. It worked a treat.

Do we buy Duraglit toasters because they're 10 times more expensive than all the others?

“but if any of you have more economical ideas”

Minky, did you not read the Dualit instruction leaflet? I think it clearly states that you place the toaster in a prominent position where visitors cannot miss seeing it, then do your toasting in the grill.

“If it is Stainless Steel then try Autosol. It is available from Halfords. I used to use it on my bikes exhaust and the chrome bits. It worked a treat.”

Solvol Autosol... so good it would even put the shine back on Minky’s Dullalot.

Mr Tibbs

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr.Tibbs:
“but if any of you have more economical ideas”

Minky, did you not read the Dualit instruction leaflet? I think it clearly states that you place the toaster in a prominent position where visitors cannot miss seeing it, then do your toasting in the grill.

“If it is Stainless Steel then try Autosol. It is available from Halfords. I used to use it on my bikes exhaust and the chrome bits. It worked a treat.”

Solvol Autosol... so good it would even put the shine back on Minky’s Dullalot.

Mr Tibbs

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Hey Tibbsy, I'll do a blind A/B test between Dualit toast and grilled toast any time you like buster . We are talking very classy toast here bucko.

The stainless steel bit is OK. The problem is with the aluminum end-caps. Are we saying that "Peak" or abrasive polish will do the trick ? Why don't I just attack it with a brillo pad, or better still, dip it in battery acid and then kick the shit out of it with steel-cap boots ?

'cause then you would have to polish yer boots.

regards,

michael

Is there a particular reason for the urine sample on the desk?

quote:

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Originally posted by Alex S.:
Do we buy Duraglit toasters because they're 10 times more expensive than all the others?

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No, because they toast better than the previous A.N.Other brand ... but only after the tortuous 6 month running in period.

So true, reductionist. There is then a glorious 2 day honeymoon period before they need to go back for a service.