Metal Polishes? Polishing Cloths?

J

JD Spydo

Joined
Nov 20, 2004
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Currently the metal polishes I've been using recently are FLITZ, SemiChrome, and on some items I've been having good luck using the old "Brasso" on non-ferrous metals. I've had really excellent luck using a wide array of Flitz's products and find their metal wax to work great on a couple of applications I've used it on.

But with all of these new "nanotech" products I've heard a lot about I'll admit that I know very little about them. I've also heard that there is a polish called "Mother's Mag" that a few of you have had good luck with. So please tell me what current polishes on the market are good?

Also I've heard that some of the older, more abrasive type polishes with feldspar and other types of abrasives have gotten better in the past few years. So let's talk about polishes and which ones are better for certain applications? Also what about "polishing cloths"? I have one made by Flitz that seems to do good but I've heard there are better polishing cloths out there?
 
Wow! this is the first time I can ever remember where absolutely no one has any recommendations :confused: I did get ahold of a metal polish two days ago made by the "Bar Keeper's Friend" company>> but it's different than the standard BKF cleanser because it removes tarnish like no product I've used up till now.

And with all the new Polishing Cloths I've seen at many of the local hardware store I'm blown away that no one has tried any of them:confused: Also for severe tarnish removal I've had some good luck with a commercial grade oven cleaner of all things.
 
I have used Simichrome for about 40 years. It does everything I need it to do.
I do use NeverDull for some specialized tasks.
I just have not seen a reason to experiment further. Let us know if you have any revelations.
 
I haven't looked into so-called 'polishing cloths', simply because it's just easier to use what I've already got (Flitz, Simichrome, Mother's Mag, etc). All aluminum oxide-based polishes, and they'll do anything I need them to do, with a clean rag. The bonus with all these is, since they're AlOx-based, they'll also work well on strops for most mainstream cutlery steels.

I've got an old partial tube (1.75 oz) of 'Metal-Glo' polish labelled as 'Made in West Germany', implying it was made sometime prior to 1990, with East/West Germany's reunification in that year. I've used maybe 2/3rds of it in that 28+ year span. It seems to be identical to Simichrome, also Germany-sourced, in appearance (pink paste), odor (ammonia) and performance, so far as I can tell. With that left, and the others I've since accumulated, they'll last me forever at that rate.

I've occasionally used green compound (chromium oxide) for polishing bolsters & such, done with a cotton wheel on a Dremel. But I haven't used it that way very often. It's an option.

Some plated metals could be damaged by aluminum oxide products (they'll strip the plating off). Most of those will have warnings on the packaging about that risk. In such a case, it's better to be very careful about which abrasive polishing products you might use, with the 'gentler' products of silica abrasive (Brasso, Nevr-Dull) or iron oxide ('red rouge') perhaps being more favorable for those. It's basically the only reason I'd go looking for such products at all.
 
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Mothers Mag works well on most metals. Any commercial polish has abrasives, some are just finer.
Any knife or implement used on food I would use Colgate toothpaste toxic chemicals in those polishes.
 
Mothers Mag shmacked up my T10 blade. User error? All thea ugly wrag patterns in it.Im

Dont all the guysnhere use some kind of Frog stuff? Might be for.somethin else...

Polishing cloths: what you want is natural CHAMOIS. Forget about scratchy micro fiber. I dont kndow the beast source for Chamois, but thats the stuff right there
 
You mean froglube and it's not a polish it's used to prevent rust and corrosion and it works very well for that.

Phixt said:
Mothers Mag shmacked up my T10 blade. User error? All thea ugly wrag patterns in it.Im

Dont all the guysnhere use some kind of Frog stuff? Might be for.somethin else...

Polishing cloths: what you want is natural CHAMOIS. Forget about scratchy micro fiber. I dont kndow the beast source for Chamois, but thats the stuff right there
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bonzodog said:
I have used cape cod polishing cloths,but flitz does the job .
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I've seen those "Cape Cod" polishing cloths at my local ACE Hardware here where I live and I've also wondered in they make metal polish as well?

ACE Hardware also has their own "micro-fiber" polishing cloth of which I've used on big, commercial stainless kitchen fixtures and I've had decent results using that cloth with Semi-Chrome polish.

Also the Sentry Solution company makes a cloth called "Tuf-Cloth" which actually is used for corrosion prevention. I'm also wondering who else makes polishing cloths?
 
Prior to getting more seriously into knife collecting and maintenance, I had been using and getting good results using Maas Metal Polish on metal guitar parts. I’ve used it experimentally on a couple of old, cheap knives and have been very happy with the results. If anyone knows more about this stuff, and would advise against using it for knives, I’d be interested in hearing from you.
 
Astronaut FX said:
Prior to getting more seriously into knife collecting and maintenance, I had been using and getting good results using Maas Metal Polish on metal guitar parts. I’ve used it experimentally on a couple of old, cheap knives and have been very happy with the results. If anyone knows more about this stuff, and would advise against using it for knives, I’d be interested in hearing from you.
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Interesting that you would bring up MAAS Polish because I've seen it at gun shows and other places but I've yet to ever use any. I can't remember if it was made here in the USA or if it is one of those German made polishes. But you are not the only one who I've heard speak well of the product.
 
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