markk900

+1 - and I have tried for a long time on both bicycles and motorcycles to find a way to get the lovely satin finish on parts that were not anodized originally. Khatful's thread is immensely helpful but doesn't cover this. Where I tend to want to do this is when a part is otherwise in great shape but has some scratches or divots deep enough to annoy (like when someone gets deep scratches in a stem or seat post). Usually I just end up polishing the whole thing (people like shiny) or leave the scratches there.

norskagent

That feather is the newer fuji re-issue, not much different than the kilo IIs, etc. My old feather was lugged w/ nice shimano track dropouts and a cool flat crown fork. I miss it alot (crashed). I went ahead a did the BB on the gitane, good thing, the ~40 yr. old grease was gunked up solid like bar soap.

auchencrow

? ?

Why not? WD-40 is one of the best agents for removing caked-on grease from bike frames/chainwheels/cranks.

Paramount1973 

Yes! It works really well for that. I've never had it damage paint, either.

rootboy 

It is? I thought dangerous, highly volatile, cancer-causing VOC's were best for that. I'll try it, thanks.

ultraman6970

Ultra uses:

- Coke + aluminum foil technique for chrome.
- sometimes the chrome is so bad that is better just sand it with 600 grit wet sand paper and polish the heck out of it.
- If crome is flaking one solution is sand it out to smooth the surface and then polish the heck out of it, you might end with a darker spot in the chrome but the surface will be smooth.

- sand (slightly) the paint with 600 grit wet sand paper, then 2000 or 1500 wet sand paper and polish, that will get all the impurities incrusted in the paint job off, it will get rid off some superficial scratches aswell.

- For bolts and nuts with rust I been mixing the naval gel technique and after wards I drop the stuff in a tapleware with coca cola for an hour, then rub the rust right off with paper.

Michael Angelo 

For caked on grease I use mineral spirits.

rootboy 

I've been using kerosene, but sometimes MS works better.

bashermax 

For polishing aluminum I use a small dremel with a Polishing thingy (round pad) cuz it'll get into tight places without having to disassemble the brake. works great

KenNC

I have seen people rave about "Liquid Glass" for automobiles:
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...ass_89013169-p
Also see people fond of "Renaissance Wax" for vintage firearms: https://www.amazon.com/Picreator-Rena.../dp/B0012S1XBO
I am curious about giving these a try.....

elcraft

+1 on the psuedo chrome/ steel rims.
I also used Simchrome and a rag on my Super Course's Weinmann rims, BITD. I still have this bike and constantly field questions about whether or not they used steel rims on this model. At least one time, I actually had to remove the wheel and let the questioner feel the weight of the rim to verify my assertion!

clubman 

Depends on the age and type of finish. A rag damp with WD 40 quickly started eating a 531 decal on my 48 Raleigh Clubman. User beware. Never again for me.

Steve Whitlatch 

Use a 600 grit wet sand paper rubbing lightly back and forth in one direction. It will put a satin finish back on polished parts. (I buy and sell used flatware. I put Satin finishes back on flatware that looks brand new)

Steve Whitlatch 

I buy and sell used flatware. I can take a scratched up 30 year old stainless steel fork and make it look brand new. (In case your wondering, I have sold used stainless steel teaspoons for $90 each that I paid 10 cents each for) You can take deep road rash out of crank arms with heavy sand paper followed up with high speed buffing wheels and compound to bring back the finish. If you parts are satin you can put a satin finish back on with 400 to 600 grit wet sand paper if you are careful to rub back and forth in a straight line until the finish has been restored. A big bar of black and a big bar of white polishing compound is only $10 each. Black digs deep, white compound takes out surface scratches and puts a very high gloss shine on steel and aluminum. That is enough compound to polish over 100 bikes or more. Polishing wheels are cheap.

browngw 

A product I use all the time on RV graphics and on my Raleighs is Protect-all. Available from any RV supplier. It is kind to decals paint rubber glass and vinyl.
Cleans and leaves a protective shine.

grasscutter

Old thread, but felt it needed revisiting. Especially about the WD-40.
As a paint and body man for many many years, I can tell you, I'll never use WD-40 to clean a frame.
Soap and water only. Let it dry.

If WD-40 is so great... then why don't you buy it in the gallon container (which it is sold in), and wash your car?
Talk to me in a few years and let me know how your paint looks!
Or pour mineral spirits over your car? Or whatever solvent you're currently using on your bikes...
Insanity!

Soap. Water. Repeat if necessary.
Let it dry.

Keep it simple. And put down the WD-40 can!

CustomSteel

Lot's of great tips here!

A couple of things to add:

Evapo-Rust is an excellent rust removal solution. I use it a lot in my line of work a lot, and it applies to bicycles as well. You can use a clean rag soaked in Evapo-Rust to wrap around parts of the frame or wheels if needed.

Autosol is an excellent and long lasting polishing compound that polishes chrome and aluminum with excellent results. It polishes aluminum better than anything I have ever seen/heard of/used. A little dab of this compound goes a long-long way.

You can also use very fine-grain wet/dry sandpaper to polish scratches that steel wool can't smooth out before you apply polishing compound.

Glennfordx4

One of the best things I have found for cleaning & polishing chrome that my boss turned me onto is Colonel Brassy, it really does work fantastic. I have cleaned an entire chrome plated Mongoose BMX frame with this stuff that had some pretty heavy rust at all the tube joints and was really happy with the results and effort it took to do so. I then did a set of steel wheels & hubs with it and again I was very happy with the way they came out. It isn't cheap though listing at about $20 a bottle ( I paid $10 from our shop ), though it's a pretty big bottle & you don't need much once a rag is wet with it.

https://www.vertexind.com/colonel-brassy.htm


Glenn

rootboy 

One way to achieve a fine satin finish on aluminum parts is with an ultra-fine brass scratch brass, as used by jewelers.

https://www.riogrande.com/Product/Bra...h/338225?Pos=4

toavii

I've been using a mixture of what is stated in this thread for a while, but there's two things that always give me a bit of trouble and was curious if anyone had any tips...

1. What's the best way to get at the hubs (without the need to re-lace a wheel that's not in need of it) and make them as respectable as anything else that you're polishing? I've got larger hands so it's always a bit of a struggle.

2. Living in Minnesota, at this time of the year, it's a bit difficult to properly address a bike with water. Especially when bringing in a bike that hasn't seen it in years. The gal isn't thrilled about an initial (semi-contained) rinse in the basement laundry room and with a garage that's not heated, there's not a lot of options. Is the best course of action just hang it up and wait for spring?

muzpuf

nice

markk900

Thanks rootboy....I have brass wheels but not so fine....I will get one and try it on an old motorcycle primary cover to see how it works.

Amesja

Dip chrome and steel parts in Oxalyic and any parts you can't dip use Barkeeper's Friend on with a scrubbie pad. Rinse well and then use chrome polish with wax to protect from further pitting.

To clean hubs inboard of the flanges while still spoked a slightly-wetted toothbrush can be loaded-up with Barkeeper's Friend and that will do a great job on grease and light rust. Really bad rust scabs can be carefully pulled off with a dental pick. Dunking is OA is better but on hubs this means you need to strip them first of spokes and the guts. Toothbrush and OA, with a dental pick for bad scabs does OK, you might pull a tiny bit of chrome off too, but usually a scab will just pop off it isn't too bad.

Barkeeper's friend works well on alloy parts too. Be aware that once you dig through any protective finish on alloy parts it'll need to be protected again from oxidation and nothing protects like the original coatings.

markk900

What's worked for me is to use one of the polishing cotton products (like Nev-R-Dull) and my fingers to build up that nice polishing layer on the hub, then I take a long strip of soft polishing cloth (like 3' worth), thread the cloth around the hub and back out, and then pulling tightly pull the cloth back and forth to get the polishing done. Usually only need to reposition the cloth 2x to get a really nice shiny hub, and if the cloth is soft enough you can usually get the dirt/polish out from around the spoke heads too.

Glennfordx4

That's the best way I have found, old cotton mix socks work good as do the arm from a old flannel shirt cut up for rags. I place my wheels in my park truing stand to do a lot of the cleaning and polishing.

Glenn