Stainless Steel Cleaner

[jamhass]

Metal wax

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

^^^^^^^ Surprised it took that long to come up.

The works toilet bowl cleaner works exactly the same as spotless stainless, you paint it on, wait half an hour and rinse it off. They are both acids. The ss is easier to use on items that you cant remove from the boat only because it is gel like and hangs in place but costs more than 10 times as much. I'm going to try to thicken the works by adding silica to see if I can make it a gel at some point. So far I have only been doing parts like turnbuckles and rigging parts so it hasn't mattered. Neither is an abrasive which I like. Amost anything abrasive should remove rust stains but dulls the shine which is an important part of what prevents stainless from rusting in the first place. I have made up many pieces of custom stainless steel sailboat hardware which all gets polished to a high shine and for me it is mostly for rust prevention, not just bling.

Steve.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

The works toilet bowl cleaner works exactly the same as spotless stainless, you paint it on, wait half an hour and rinse it off. They are both acids. The ss is easier to use on items that you cant remove from the boat only because it is gel like and hangs in place but costs more than 10 times as much. I'm going to try to thicken the works by adding silica to see if I can make it a gel at some point.....

Steve.

If you want to make it gelatinous, why not simply try mixing it with dry gelatin?

[Greggegner]

Muthers metal polish it what I like. Once even removed some paint overspray.

[UNCIVILIZED]

There's one fail safe cleaner not yet mentioned. And rinsing is required (nor recommended). Plus it works in seconds. --> Thermite. The all purpose, 100% satisfaction guaranteed, DIY cleaner

[RickG]

We use Starbrite polish and Ospho for rust. We mix the Ospho half with dish soap so that it sticks to the rusy bits a bit better; great for cleaning rust stains on fiberglass too.

Cheers, RickG

[Cheechako]

Good products mentioned. I also found that Soft Scub, for gel coat and fiberglass tubs etc works great on SS. This keeps you from having too many products aboard. I never use acid based products on SS. My experience is it works ... but it makes the SS rust even faster next time.
My favorite is 3M Finesse it. I use it for Gel and SS etc. It's expensive but a very good product. A boat yard polished my hull for me once and the guy used it, I've been using it ever since.

[Thumbs Up]

Barkeepers friend cooktop cleaner (not the original) is citric acid based. Citric acid passivates stainless steel. You can buy food grade citric acid powder very cheaply. Finesse it is just a polishing compound (mild abrasive). I am sure that it will remove very mild rust stains. If you need to polish out heavy rust you can start with 400 grit wet dry paper then move up to 600, 1000, and even 1500 grit or polishing rouge but it is still a good idea to treat with citric acid. If you are using power tools, don't let the surface get too hot. Also never use steel wool or anything that was used on or has mild steel (or iron) and especially do not use a wire brush (unless it is stainless and has never been used on mild steel or iron). The use of wax on stainless is debated because it starves out the oxygen which is needed to form the protective layer and eventually can cause crevice corrosion, but can also seal out contaminants. Many people use wax to keep the stainless looking brand new but once it starts to corrode maybe not such a good idea. Beware of rust on rigging fittings and especially chainplates which have a habit of breaking where they penetrate the deck (area starved of oxygen). It is a good idea to examine fittings with a pocket microscope prior to cleaning off the rust. Polishing can hide hairline cracks. Like I said before this is a huge topic. There has also been a big problem with new stainless rusting, even 316L. If you see a hair line crack on a fitting replace it immediately. There are many, many cases of stainless fittings failing suddenly without warning. Many recommend replacing standing rigging at five year intervals......

[Sea Dreaming]

Regarding thickener for the toilet bowl cleaner. I would suggest guar gum. Its used industrially as a high speed lube but is used as an edible thickener in vegan cooking. Its cheap, can be bought at the healthfood store and will thicken cold temp liquids. Most food grade thickeners require warm liquids to disipate.

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

If you want to make it gelatinous, why not simply try mixing it with dry gelatin?

Thanks, that may be a better idea. I only thought of silica as that is what we use to make thin laminating resins into a gel or paste, but may not work with something only as viscous as water. I will try both, silica I have, gelatin I will have to buy when I'm at the supermarket.

Steve.

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by Sea Dreaming

Regarding thickener for the toilet bowl cleaner. I would suggest guar gum. Its used industrially as a high speed lube but is used as an edible thickener in vegan cooking. Its cheap, can be bought at the healthfood store and will thicken cold temp liquids. Most food grade thickeners require warm liquids to disipate.

Good to know, well worth a try. Thanks.

Steve.

[UNCIVILIZED]

A common sense check. If you're going to mix things, make sure that you know what they are, & what will happen. As an impromptu (surprise) cloud of chlorine gas can ruin your whole day. Ditto if you accidentally make a pyroclasic flow of acid (caustic volcanic eruption).
Since doing something as simple as pouring some compounds into water, or water into them, can cause them to errupt violently, spewing hazardous corrosives everywhere. Including onto you.

[MollyJo]

I have used lots of products but there are very few available in Australia that are a true "wipe on, rinse off" Most require copious amounts of elbow grease to get rid of rust stains. I have found a good one though. "Perfect Rails" doesn't evaporate and most importantly, for me at least, is wipe on wash off. Worked really well on badly corroded stainless steel as well as light rust stains on newer bar work I had installed. It does warn of being good for 316 grade stainless though so may not work or could damage?? lesser grades, like sinks, stove tops etc.

[Dave_S]

Originally Posted by MollyJo

I have used lots of products but there are very few available in Australia that are a true "wipe on, rinse off" Most require copious amounts of elbow grease to get rid of rust stains. I have found a good one though. "Perfect Rails" doesn't evaporate and most importantly, for me at least, is wipe on wash off. Worked really well on badly corroded stainless steel as well as light rust stains on newer bar work I had installed. It does warn of being good for 316 grade stainless though so may not work or could damage?? lesser grades, like sinks, stove tops etc.

Hi

I can't see it on Google. Where do you buy it?

[MollyJo]

I actually met the guy selling it in the boat yard and bought it there and then. Try http://perfectrails.com/home