Anybody had any experience with something that works on bringing a better shine to the outside stainless. Some of mine has sort of a "milky" haze to it. Also some brown spots that almost look like rust. (I just know that the answer to this is going to be good old fashion elbow grease)
Hi afrayer, Welcome
Your Right. Elbo's and, if your up to it. A high speed buffer.
Wish I had another way to tell you that less painful on the arms....
Nick-
All you ever needed to know about polishing:
http://www.englishcustompolishing.com/usca/
http://users.cwnet.com/~thall/fredhobe.htm
Richard
Here is the link to the folks I use:
http://www.swmetal.com/
Best supply house and great customer service. I have purchased all my stainless supplies from them and can't say enough about their website and their willingness to explain how things should work out. I also purchased a 9 inch buffer from Harbor Freight and burned it up while polishing. I spend about 4 hours twice a year making sure I remove the residue from the rain and elements to keep the shine up.
Good luck!
Grant
Here is a little trick that a polisher taught me years ago.
Go to a truck stop (TA is best) and buy a bar of blue polishing compound. Break a piece 3" long off and put it in a plastic zip-lock bag, then put the bag into an old sock. Use a big hammer to smash the blue compound in it to "smithereens" -- you want a very fine powder. Dump the powder into a 1 liter coke bottle, then fill the coke bottle with mineral oil. If you are going to use it on stainless, you can add 4 drops of C-L-R to the mix. Cap the bottle and shake VERY well.
One note: If you added C-L-R, DO NOT use the polish on aluminum -- it will turn it gold!
For the actual polishing, you will need a good sized rectangular sponge and a hand towel. Wrap the sponge in the towel, then squirt some of the polish onto the towel. When you polish, go with the grain of the metal ONLY -- do not polish cross-grain or in a circular pattern! You don't need a lot of pressure, and you don't need to polish a long time. I have used this on aluminum fuel tanks, and have gotten a mirror shine in less than 20 minutes. As with any metal polishing, you are looking for the polish to turn black -- then you can buff this residue off with a clean, soft rag.
The first time I saw this done, I was amazed at the quality of the shine for the amount of work involved. This particular polisher had a great deal of experience, and this "formula" was his own favorite. I have used it with good results for several years.