schwinn70s

For those that have not been in the military a very gentile and subtle polish is just as far as your bathroom. Tooth Paste the very simple and cheap white paste; not gel or any of the 4 dozen type: the simple white paste. As a member of the USMC I found this to be very good for polishing brass as a suggestion from my Dad who had 22 yrs in the military. it is reactionary as it works with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda with a little help from a Dremel tool with a buffing wheel it will remove swirls from chrome and if not the tooth paste common jewelers rouge works very well also just a thought I would pass around. Be sure to keep it moist while using a sponge is very hand for this. And I just found out it works on auto headlight lenses so don't buy specialty products ..See what you have around the house that will work ,but be mindful of chemical reactions.

SJX426 

@schwinn70s - Thanks for the info!

Ex Pres 

Toothpaste also works to remove stubborn stains from your real silverware.

(I assume all of you C&Vers out there use real silver as your daily service, not that newfangled stainless stuff)

RobbieTunes

If one is older Corps, the khaki web belts could be scrubbed with the same toothpaste used to polish the buckle and tip. Then you rinsed it off and hung it to dry; the closer to white it came out, the better. This was back when we wore sauteen green utilities, starched and pressed, with starched covers. Everything was a contradiction. Your khaki shirts were cleaned and starched to a light grey, almost, and no "military creases;" i.e. flat as a pancake. The khaki belts were washed to near whiteness. Shoes were shined, not wiped off (and they were a heck of a lot cooler to stand in for 3 hours on inspections). Boots were black. T-shirts were white, round neck, and the neck had better not sag, no hair was allowed to show above that neckline. Only the air wing could get away without wearing a high and tight, or recruiters, and shaving your head was considered an eccentric haircut, and banned. Brass was real, not anodized, and tarnished in the humidity. A tube of white toothpaste and some C-rat toilet paper could go a long way.

A drill instructor in green sauteens was a study in absolute crispness. You could not roll out of the rack, put on a set of uniforms, and go to formation. The preparation to look squared away was a good 15 minutes to 1/2 hour per day, just getting the uniform ready. I remember getting shirts from the cleaners, unwrapping them, turning them inside out, running a thin line of parrafin inside of each crease, turning them back right side out, and re-ironing the creases, then pressing out the rest of the shirt to hang like a piece of cardboard. I wore blousing garters between my shirt tails and the tops of my socks; no matter which way I turned or moved, my shirt stayed tucked in. If you grabbed my shirt at the back and pulled up, I came up with it.

Apparently, all this was to reinforce attention to detail. I forget.

Lascauxcaveman 

I've been using whitening toothpaste for awhile for cleaning aluminum rims and white cork bartape. I used some to clean greasy spots off a white vinyl saddle a couple weeks ago, worked great.

Works great on teeth, too.

gugie 

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

AlexCyclistRoch

FWIW, most toothpastes today don't have as much "grit" as they did 35+ years ago. Certainly none of the gel-style toothpastes today do. At one point, toothpaste used to be used to polish bottom bracket bearing races-you would clean the bearings out, replace the grease with toothpaste, then go for a 10 mile ride. Come home, fully clean the bearings again, and regrease.

If you want to do this today, you need to use "old school" toothpaste, preferably something without mint flavor and fluoride. Possibly even tooth powder. Not sure on availability, but if you go to a chain pharmacy, you can probably still find something.

Lascauxcaveman 

Mine is Dollar-Store stuff. Pink, minty and definitely has a fine polishing grit to it. Tastes slightly gritty in the mouth. Second ingredient listed is "Hydrated Silica." That's just very fine sand with some water in it, isn't it?

Some people would find it inadequate for their purposes, but I'm just using it to get things clean, not really trying to polish, per se. But on an alloy rim, it definitely leaves more shine behind it than cleaning with plain dish soap.