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Cleaning aluminum

cleanining aluminum

Has anyone had any luck cleaning the mottling off old aluminum parts? I have tried soda blasting, aluminum jelly and polishing compounds with little luck. Parts look cleaner but still have a mottled rather than bright shiny finish which they had when new. I'd like to get as close to that as possible. View attachment 81818

I stopped using Simple Green 30 yrs. ago. It is very corrosive for all metals. The Air Force stopped using it about 15 yrs. ago for the same reason. They had to start replacing panels on aircraft because they were so thin from the affects of this product.
 
Corrosive

You are correct, regular simple green is very corrosive to aircraft metals and not good for poly paint either. It was great for cleaning black exhaust stains but was banned on aircraft use while I was serving. I can attest to this because I was a Coast Guard aviator (helos) for 25 years.
I would think the newer version for aircraft applications would be safe for aircraft and environment friendly.
 
I stopped using Simple Green 30 yrs. ago. It is very corrosive for all metals. The Air Force stopped using it about 15 yrs. ago for the same reason. They had to start replacing panels on aircraft because they were so thin from the affects of this product.

Please look as my previous post about this. Simple Green has a product specifically designed for cleaning aircraft that appears to have been introduced to address the problems you mentioned.

https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?99236-Cleaning-aluminum&p=1234487&viewfull=1#post1234487
 
Just noticed your post.

Nope, not Wayne. Just Dave. Not Chasing Classic Cars, just scrubbing on my /5.

The Actual Wayne Carini will be in Saint Augustine, Florida on April 24th as the Grand Marshal for Riding Into History. The event is organized by BMW MOA member, Bill Peterson, Ted and I will be there occupying vendor space signing up MOA members. If you’re in the area, (or even if your not) come on by and say hi.
 
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