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by **rustyfoot** on Thu Dec 20, 2012 7:57 pm

I am restoring a 4 way beacon with aluminum reflectors. The reflectors have been cleaned with soap and water and that did a good job on the regular dust and dirt. Now I'm dealing with stubborn cruddy stains that have been there a long time. Can anybody recommed a product that will remove this unwanted junk and not damage the reflector? Help :scratch:

rustyfoot

by **jab8356** on Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:04 pm

I had a couple hopeless aluminum reflectors in a ped head that had some kind of stains that nothing would touch. I got some silver spray paint and painted them. The result isn't as reflective as a pristine aluminum reflector, but much better than it was with all the stains.

by **vaughn** on Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:05 pm

I wire wheeled my reflector frames and they turned out good.
If the reflectors are aluminum I'd suggest a fine sand paper 220 maybe and higher depending on the shine your after. You should be able to sand the stains right out of the first few layers of the reflector until it shines.

by **Sky Chief** on Thu Dec 20, 2012 8:09 pm

Depends on how bad the stains are but I believe I'd try something like this product before I tried anything more abrasive:
http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05142_b.html

I would be reluctant to use sand paper without trying gentler methods first and paint would always work as a last resort if you can remove the stains by polishing. Even a metal polish like Blue Magic brand does well when applied by hand. I've used it on aluminum in the past with good results. If you do go with sandpaper later, I'd use 800 or finer grit and once the stains were off, you could still try to polish the reflectors as they should shine back up again to an acceptable level.

by **rustyfoot** on Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:54 pm

I tried 0000 steel wool and it does a good job polishing the reflector shine, but not much on the hard stain. I tried using Awesome and lightly scrubbing with 0000 steel wool and it somewhat helped the shine, but did not do much with the bad stain. Looks like maybe there is no easy fast way to get this job done. Using 0000 steel wool or maybe 600 grit sandpaper with light pressure, very light pressure will eventually get the stains manageable. Patience is the key and that is hard for me. :sad:

rustyfoot

by **mcha9797** on Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:30 pm

I agree with Skychief,

Mothers Aluminum Polish will polish the dullest aluminum to a mirror finish, I've used it on wheels and it works very well.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05100-05101_b.html

by **mcha9797** on Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:01 am

Chris,

I have a Darley reflector that I will try some of the Mothers product on, I'll post before and after shots next week.

by **rustyfoot** on Wed Jan 09, 2013 9:54 pm

[quote="Sky Chief"]Depends on how bad the stains are but I believe I'd try something like this product before I tried anything more abrasive:
http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05142_b.html

Jason,
I'm going to give this product a try. Thanks for the tip. :2Cool:

by **mcha9797** on Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:00 pm

mcha9797 wrote:I agree with Skychief,

Mothers Aluminum Polish will polish the dullest aluminum to a mirror finish, I've used it on wheels and it works very well.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05100-05101_b.html

Sorry, I've got a lot of things going on right now and didn't get a chance to do the before and after shots. If you want to shine up your reflector's, Mother's will do the job!!

by **mcha9797** on Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:25 pm

Took a few minutes to do what I said I would do...Mother's was applied to a stained area on the bottom of the reflector, the top was untouched. This was a real quick application, and multiple applications will give you the results that you are looking for. GOOD STUFF!!

Good luck!! :thumbsup:

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