Cleaning and polishing techniques

northcliff66

For my refurb project I need to clean up an old Cinelli stem and a Campag seat post.

Someone told me wire wool and T Cut (I assume as a two stage process).

Seems a bit aggressive.

Any recommendation for the best way to remove light scratches, dullness and to get back that "as new" shine?

Thanks.

Matthewfalle

Solvol and elbow grease.

team47b

Autosol and elbow grease for all BARE metals

Avoid using wire wool or t-cut on a bike!

if you need to restore paint to a shine use a cheap car polish this has milder cutting properties than t-cut

oxalic acid for chrome. (Found naturally in spinach, dock leaves, sorrel, rhubarb leaves etc )

Don't use anything other than 'mr Pledge' on anodized aluminium parts like cranks or brakes or you will strip the anodize coating.

Aluminum has a grain, polish with the grain.

keef66

Autosol and lots of clean rags and elbow grease. For round things like stems, cut the cloth into strips so you can pull them back and forth. A Dremel with the little felt polishing wheels can speed things up a bit on the fiddly areas; just be aware that it can also fling black crap where you might not want it to go.

northcliff66

Thanks folks. I shall get going with the Autosol.

Matthewfalle

Remember to use different rags for putting on and taking off.

And yes, to get perfect results it's a long, laborious boring task, so lots of red wine and good film always helps - Hell of the North original on You Tube will do the job.

northcliff66

Seat post looking quite good after an hour or so work. The are some quite deep insertion scratches which will show as I need to have the post out to the max.

Tough call. A new C-Record aero post is about £150.