How to Use Aluminum Compound Polish
Aluminum can be difficult to polish. Rather than buffing the surface to a sheen, you need to cut through the rust and other imperfections with a highly abrasive compound. An aluminum compound polish will remove spots, rust and stains with ammonia-based abrasives that are strong enough to cut through heavy oxidation and restore the aluminum's original shine.
Things You'll Need
- Safety goggles
- Rubber gloves
- Aluminum compound polish
- Microfiber application pad
- Circular machine polisher
- Wool pads
- Towel
Instructions
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1
Put on the rubber gloves and safety goggles before you begin polishing. Small pieces of wool, soaked in the polish, can fly off and cause serious injury if they get in your eyes.
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2
Apply a thin layer of aluminum compound polish to the aluminum surface using the microfiber application pad. Work with an area of about 2 square feet at a time.
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3
Attach the wool pad to the circular machine polisher. Set the polisher to a speed of 1500 rpm. Work over the surface in a right to left motion, followed by an up and down motion. Continue to polish until the defects in the surface are gone.
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4
Wipe off the black residue with a towel. If the surface still has imperfections, repeat Step 3. If not, move on to the next area of the aluminum surface and repeat Steps 2 through 4 until the project is complete.
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Tips & Warnings
Depending on the size of the surface you are working on, the polishing pad may become caked with black residue. When this occurs, brush the pad with a stainless steel brush to remove the residue. If you cannot remove enough residue to continue, remove the pad and begin again with a new one.
