How to shine cadmium plating

easyrider7467

New member
Hello,

Does anyone have first hand experience with this.

Is there a way to bring up a shine to something cad plated ? I have to be careful not to remove the plating either. Thanks in advance. J
 
This is a great question. A lot of the off-road vehicles have this plating on certain components. I would think a general metal polish would be ok, but will wait to hear more studied opinions.
 
Cad plating isn't that shiny. Kind of satin. I would think a metal sealant would be best. Other than that, a clear coat would be the best long term protection, while adding gloss. There is satin and matte clear coat, too.
 
It's a very soft coating with desirable properties for brakes pads etc. Use of Cd plating is declining because Cd is so toxic, and creates enviromental issues.



Use Eagle 1 Nano polish, and don't worry about getting it too shiny. Honestly, I'd probably wash it and wipe it down with some B12 Chemtool to get the part nice and clean, and then evaluate the need for polishing.
 
No its not shiney to begin with. Thought I could get a shine on it.



Yes, its soft. Before I knew what it was and where it was used I tried cleaning and using a chrome polish on my M/C spokes. Well i removed the plating and learned that their cad plated.



This application; my fuel lines are cad plated but need some tlc.



whats this B12 Chemtool thats been suggested?



thanks.
 
Best just to get it really clean and just seal it, and let the sealant make it shiny. cad and zinc plating are too thin to polish. If it was meant to be pretty, it would have been chrome plated, I think.
 
B12 Chemtool is a liquid solvent, used as an old style carb cleaner/fuel additive. It's very effective at disolving varnish and other schmutz. You can find it in the fuel additives section in Autozone.



Nanopolish contains a fair bit of corrosion inhibitor's so I'd do a quick wipe on/wipe off on the newly clean surfaces.
 
Yeah, gotta be gentle with it and peventive maintenance is best.



I've done OK just sealing with (layered) sealants and even Collinite wax can work well. The undercarriage bits on the MPV are still in OK shape (after seven winters too!) and they don't get all that much attention, I just seal them and then keep them clean.



On a few pieces I've used Nylac coating from Eastwood and so far it's worked out great. I bet Zoop Seal would work well too, but I never get around to trying it.
 
GoudyL said:
B12 Chemtool is a liquid solvent, used as an old style carb cleaner/fuel additive. It's very effective at disolving varnish and other schmutz. You can find it in the fuel additives section in Autozone.



Would B12 Chemtool be safe to use on polished billet aluminum surfaces to clean up and remove stains, cleaner residue, etc, without causing damage to the finish or making matters worse? :think:
 
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