Cleaning up the stainless steel - whats best?

[Dave-Fethiye]

Hello,

The stainless steel ( or chrome plated steel) not sure which, is getting rust from the seawater splashes.

Should I just rub it down with a cloth with soap on it ?

Some of my ss rails also have paint and polyester resin on (due to my carelessness )

Would something like this stainless steel scouring pad be ok or will it dull the finish by leaving lots of scratches ?


David

[PAR]

Stainless requires air to remain stainless. Paint or other coatings will starve the SS from air and rust will appear. Also the SS can become "de-pacified" over time, use, abuse, etc. and can be restored to some degree with chemicals and micro polishing.

Abrasives need to be extremely fine and scrubbing pads aren't the ticket, unless you like the "brushed" aluminum look. Most micro polishes and elbow grease will provide a nice shine and finish to stainless.

Chrome will also benefit from a micro polish, but be warned that the chrome plate is quite thin and can be rubbed right through if you're not careful.

Pick up a "Flitz Ball" or the similar product from "Mother's". Both are micro polish balls, intended to fit in a drill. Used with their polishes, can make stainless, chrome, paint and many plastics look better then new. Clean the surfaces (Brasso works), follow the directions and protect the surfaces after polishing (wax, clear coating of some sort, etc.) Good Luck . . .

[Dave-Fethiye]

I read somewhere that vinegar is an eco-friendly and economical cleaner - will it clean up SS ?

[diagram]

You might also consider toilet bowl cleaner. It is desgned to remove rust stains and I have used on lower grades of SS with decent success.

[yipster]

vinigar works great f.e. on ss props after submerging them a night in a bucket

[alan white]

I worked with stainless for many years in the restaurant equipment business.
There are many types of stainless steel. The type used for high corrosion-resistence is usually known as 300 series. 316, 304, 303 stainless are all common variants. Some are stronger, but at the cost of corrosion resistence, others the opposite.
I'm assuming your rails are 300 series, but not 316, which resists rust better than 303 or 304. To renew the rails, and to best maintain them rust-free, I would recommend buffing with a compounds made for use on stainless. Depending on what their condition is to start with, I would possibly purchase a rubber mandrel for use with a high-speed grinder. This is a 4" round rubber backer with a 5/8" threaded arbor hole and a 1/4" female hole in the center which accepts 3M discs that screw in by hand. These discs are the fibrous "scotchbrite" material. They come in many grits. With these, you can take down rough material all the way to "ready for polishing".
Sheetmetal shops use these all the time on stainless and other materials.

You asked about how to remove goop from the rails. Either abrasion, or you can use heat sometimes, and a razor (so it doesn't have to carbonize from so much heat).

I used to make all my own stainless boat hardware from #316 stainless---- often quite complicated pieces such as an A-frame bowsprit, cleats, winch bases, etc.. I polished every part I made to a high luster, and in use in salt water, nothing ever showed the slightest tendancy to rust. Polishing is the best defense against rust, once the correct metal alloy has been chosen.
I would guess your rails are not #316 stainless, however, unless they were never polished. 304, more likely, and God forbid they are 400 series, which rusts badly. That would have been a grievous mistake, however, on the part of the builder.

Alan

[Pete Dennison]

Vinegar and bi-carb soda (baking soda) works great! Mix to a foaming paste and apply then wipe off! Works really well on brass too!

[CDK]

The easiest and quickest way to clean ss is Phosphoric acid, available as a rust dissolver for household use. The spots disappear instantly. Coca Cola also works, but the acid content is very low, so it takes considerably longer. After cleaning and rinsing with clean water, apply a spray of silicone oil. It'll keep the steel in shiny condition for at least 6 months.

[alan white]

Really, the only way to make the stainless steel better is to polish it properly. Acids work to clean the surface, but they can and do simultaneously create a rougher surface. I never used chemicals to remove pitting because doing so only invites even faster pitting next time. You get to a high luster, chrome-like finish by a step-by-step process through progressive abrasives ending with fine rouges or similarly ultra-fine grits.
What prevents staining and pitting is reduction of surface area at a microscopic scale.

A.

[Dave-Fethiye]

Thanks everyone for your input.

We have some some ss workshops in the industial estate. So I gonna go over there and see what they are using. At least that way I know that what they are using is available here. Being in Turkey means I can not find the common brands that you have in the US - So I will look to see what kind of polishing wheels they are using.

Thanks again.