long term effect of polishing chrome w/ foil?

buellwinkle said:
Be careful on polishing chrome with metal polish on Harleys. Their chrome is very thin and it's easy to polish through the chrome, specially the stock wire spokes.
Click to expand...

The stock spoke wheels on my Harley ultra are not chrome plated and yes I have to be careful not to use aggressive metal polish on them for it is a soft plating. If this aluminum foil technique works ha will help out on the spokes. :grinno:
 
buellwinkle said:
Be careful on polishing chrome with metal polish on Harleys. Their chrome is very thin and it's easy to polish through the chrome, specially the stock wire spokes.
Click to expand...

The stock spoke wheels on my Harley ultra are not chrome plated and yes I have to be careful not to use aggressive metal polish on them for it is a soft plating. If this aluminum foil technique works ha will help out on the spokes. :grinno:
 
I have been using aluminum foil for years, and it has never really caused any problems for me. I have actually even found it better than steel wool, I have found that steel wool leaves pieces of the steel embedded in the chrome and over a period of time it begins to rust because of it. I usually use wd-40 to lubricate mine, although when I use just aluminum foil it doesnt seem to matter. Although admittedly, I use it on older american cars where the chrome is all zinc plated, and very thick at that :xyxthumbs
 
I have been using aluminum foil for years, and it has never really caused any problems for me. I have actually even found it better than steel wool, I have found that steel wool leaves pieces of the steel embedded in the chrome and over a period of time it begins to rust because of it. I usually use wd-40 to lubricate mine, although when I use just aluminum foil it doesnt seem to matter. Although admittedly, I use it on older american cars where the chrome is all zinc plated, and very thick at that :xyxthumbs
 
I just don;t understand this one. I no I'm just a redneck from lower Alabama, but can somebody explain to me how rubbing alluminum foil on pitted chrome makes the pits go away?



I thought that pits were wholes or rust in the chrome plating. Does the alluminum foil fill in the pits? How do they go away?



Good thing my 4 wheeler doesn;t got any chrome on it. Just plastic body panels (it was blue I used some Krylon spray paint to make it blacl so it looks meaner). I use turtle wax platnum on it so it has a great shine.



oh yea,, it has some dull looking alluminum on it too. I'm gonna try that steal wool trick one of the experts mentioned, but if alluminum foil works better I;ll try it instead if its easyer.
 
I just don;t understand this one. I no I'm just a redneck from lower Alabama, but can somebody explain to me how rubbing alluminum foil on pitted chrome makes the pits go away?



I thought that pits were wholes or rust in the chrome plating. Does the alluminum foil fill in the pits? How do they go away?



Good thing my 4 wheeler doesn;t got any chrome on it. Just plastic body panels (it was blue I used some Krylon spray paint to make it blacl so it looks meaner). I use turtle wax platnum on it so it has a great shine.



oh yea,, it has some dull looking alluminum on it too. I'm gonna try that steal wool trick one of the experts mentioned, but if alluminum foil works better I;ll try it instead if its easyer.
 
oh god... i just tried this with nxt all metal polish and some aluminum foil. i first tried the foil while its nice and flat and it did nothing, so i balled up the foil and put a bit more pressure on the foil plus the nxt all metal polish and it did not remove the pitting but only scratched the finish!! im so mad! :furious: attempt at your own risk
 
oh god... i just tried this with nxt all metal polish and some aluminum foil. i first tried the foil while its nice and flat and it did nothing, so i balled up the foil and put a bit more pressure on the foil plus the nxt all metal polish and it did not remove the pitting but only scratched the finish!! im so mad! :furious: attempt at your own risk
 
I tried this over the weekend on one of the old Chromies which is pitted, has surface rust and remnants of rust converter. The first thing I noticed is that the aluminium foil disintegrates quickly so you need a fair bit to start with. It seemed to remove some of the surface rust ok and given the aged quality of the chrome did not seem to cause any additional damage. It made no impression on the pitting. I was using it dry.
 
I tried this over the weekend on one of the old Chromies which is pitted, has surface rust and remnants of rust converter. The first thing I noticed is that the aluminium foil disintegrates quickly so you need a fair bit to start with. It seemed to remove some of the surface rust ok and given the aged quality of the chrome did not seem to cause any additional damage. It made no impression on the pitting. I was using it dry.
 
You don't use the aluminum foil to clean the pits and stains. That's what the steel wool is for. The aluminum foil is rubbed on the chrome at the end. If the piece is severely corroded, don't bother with the aluminum foil, as it's not going to do you any good. Nothing shy of replating will help you.



The exact mechanics of how and why aluminimum foil works I cannot say with certainty. I can speculate that there's some aluminum transfer and that it fills in the minute pits.



This is for chrome, not paint. Do not do this to aluminum painted pieces, plastic trim with chrome plating, clear coated pieces, etc. It works on metal that is chrome plated. Fork tubes, spokes, and other such things.



The addition of other chemicals into the process is not recommended, and may well result in interesting failures should you chose to try them. The decades old successfull technique has been aluminum foil on cleaned chrome, nothing else.
 
You don't use the aluminum foil to clean the pits and stains. That's what the steel wool is for. The aluminum foil is rubbed on the chrome at the end. If the piece is severely corroded, don't bother with the aluminum foil, as it's not going to do you any good. Nothing shy of replating will help you.



The exact mechanics of how and why aluminimum foil works I cannot say with certainty. I can speculate that there's some aluminum transfer and that it fills in the minute pits.



This is for chrome, not paint. Do not do this to aluminum painted pieces, plastic trim with chrome plating, clear coated pieces, etc. It works on metal that is chrome plated. Fork tubes, spokes, and other such things.



The addition of other chemicals into the process is not recommended, and may well result in interesting failures should you chose to try them. The decades old successfull technique has been aluminum foil on cleaned chrome, nothing else.
 
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