polishing & removing rust from stainless rigging?

[william]

while my "new" boat is pretty much parked for the winter, i have a ton of projects to keep busy with. one of them is cleaning-up and repairing rigging. allot of the stainless could use disassembled, cleaned, and polished-up....(ok, so i'm a neatfreak ). any suggestions on what to use to clean-up/polish stainless. some minor surface rust in places....

 

[John Baumgartner]

don't use

steel wool in any form!!!!!!3M Green pads ok but a good coat of wax after

 

[IslandJack]

I always end up with Brasso

I am a sucker for every new metal polish I see, and I always end up using Brasso in the end. I use a brass wire brush (not steel wire it leaves iron deposits that will soon rust) a tooth brush, Q-tips, and rags. I never bother waxing unless its up high and can't be reached easy. The shine is worth the work...and there are a lot worse ways to spend some time than spending a sunny afternoon polishing up my boat....and listening to some music...and maybe doing some fishing all at the same time.IJ

 

[Bob Fliegel]

Stainless Steel Cleaner/Polish

I use a cleaner and polish called "Mr. Douglas Metal Cleaner". I have only found it a boat shows. Its a remarkable product and I use it on all metals (boats, cars, motorcycle, household items, etc).I addition to cleaning and polishing metal I have also found it to be great at removing the oxidation on fiberglass.I don't use and brushes, just some times my finger nail on tough spots and a lot or rubbing.After the metal is cleaned I put a coat of "anhydroxide lanolyn" (the wax obtained from sheep) on everything and its protected for the season. You can get this from any drug store. West Marine also has a produce called Lanocate, imported from Australia, which is also suppose to be very good as a protectant.

 

[Pops Landing]

Bar Keepers Friend

and lots of water followed with a good waxing.

 

[william]

is this any less abrasive than ajax?

isn't this just scouring powder? that does sound like it would do good for tough or rusty spots. ...followed by a polish like has been previously mentioned.

 

[nick maggio]

FLITZ

I used flitz in a can on my 2001- 290 and it was easy to use and did a great job and the stainless looks like new again ,I did use a scotch guard pad on some tuff spots and this was the first time I did anything to the stainless on the boat for three season's. I will see how well it looks next spring after winter lay up. Nick

 

[Al]

Flitz for lifelines also...

Flitz works great to get the SS clean and spot free. I also find it works really well to clean the lifelines - makes them look bright white agian!