Cleaning the Metal Parts

[Melody Miller]

Hello All:I have dark stains, almost like dark waterspots on the bottom of my aluminum (?) window frames.Mcguire's metal cleaner did not remove them, and a bronze wool pad with acetone didn't work (maybe I just didn't try hard enough?)Anyway, it seems to me that there ought to be a way to clean or buff this metal so that it has a soft lustre and no stains.Also, I have ( presumably) creosote marks on my rub rail. Acetone and mineral spirits don't seem to work. Actually I can't tell if these are marks that could be removed, or if rail is oxidized and should be replaced. I just know it looks bad.Any suggestions would be appreciated.ThanksMelody Miller

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

3M Aluminum cleaner

Hi Melody!I don't really know how well it would work for you but I have some that I'm going to try on badly oxidized aluminum. It might be worth a shot.LaDonna

 

[Melody Miller]

LaDonna- About 3M Aluminum Cleaner

Hi LaDonna:I trotted down to West Marine and bought the 3M Aluminum cleaner. I scrubbed a small spot on the window frames with the cleaner and bronze wool and thought I was making a little progress. My marina neighbor comes over and asks what I'm doing and I say "trying to get these stains off." He says hmmm . . that's "anodized aluminum." I then remember reading something special about anodized aluminum. . I looked at the label - "do not use on anodized aluminum" (GONG!)Oh well, now I'm going to try the generic 3M cleaner. The reason I'm in such a snit over this is the proximity of my stained window frames to my trashed out rub rail. One or the other needs to be cleaned up. If I'm going to have a vintage (76) boat, I need to make it look the best I can.So my question is, if I can't get these frames to look good, could I paint them? ThanksMelody

 

[Mark Johnson]

Melody...I don't think they are anodized...

I had a 1986 C36 and the frames around the ports were not anodized. I also had staining that I was unable to get off. The stains on my frames was caused from the 2 part teak cleaner I used to clean the teak hand rails. I tried every type of metal cleaner I could find and was unable to get them off. I think removing them and painting would be a good option.Mark Johnson

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

Rub rail

Hey Melody!I would suggest before removing the ports (don't fix it if it ain't broke), try cleaning up your rub rail. I used some nasty brush cleaner (not paint thinner, it's its own thing "brush cleaner") & it worked wonders on my ugly blackened rub rail. It's really pretty cheap & works great. You might also check out the Island Girl products to see if that'd work for it. Check out the special Guest Forum to ask questions about it.I'd be careful painting metal. If anodized aluminum is so picky to cleaners, why wouldn't it be picky to paint? Let me ask you this: how did the small portion you started on come out? If it seemed to clean it ok, finish it! And you might want to read the label a little more cuz I noticed they said to use a cloth to polish with. Might take a little more elbow grease but I wonder if the bronze with the chemicals on aluminum might cause a problem??? Good luck!LaDonna