How to Clean and Restore Chrome at Home THREE METHODS TESTED

I have people ask me how they can remove the rust from chrome themselves instead of having us restore their chrome parts. I have seen several different methods that all claim to be the best way to remove rust from chrome. This made me want to give it a try and here I compare three methods. I try metal polish, wire wool and aluminium foil and coke.

00:00 - Introduction
01:39- Testing Metal Polish
04:18 - Testing Wire Wool
06:37 - Testing Foil and Coke
08:46 - Testing all three on new chrome
12:40 - Conclusion

If you need your chrome restoring please contact us:

Marque Restore Chrome Plating
2 Dutton Road
Aldermans Green Industrial Estate
Coventry
Tel - 02476 622 225

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[thomasnichols]

I sanded the chrome off my bumper when I purchased my first car. 1975 Chevy Impala. The bumpers were a mess. No money to replace of have them chromed again. I decided to sand them down. I forget what I used to remove the rusted pits but I managed to get them down to bare metal. Sanded from 80 grit all the way up to 1000 grit sand paper. It came out as shiny as chrome. Some 0000 steel wool and spray bottle of water made them even nicer. Dried them the tool metal polish with a polish wheel and they were very close to the chrome when it was new. Lasted about four years before the metal began to rust from the inside of the bumper out. I was then able to afford to have them replaced with freshly chrome bumpers. Just for fun on my down time I repeated the process on the original bumpers and they looked as good as new. I also had a friend who was a welder patch the little holes (pitting) and again repeated it all over and finished with bumpers that looked like new. I later sold the original bumpers to someone who needed new bumpers. He sent them to chromed. The guy asked him why he wanted such nice looking chrome bumpers done all over again. When he told him they were bare metal polished, he asked if he knew who had polished them. I was asked if I wanted to go work for him. I turned him down.

[brettrenshaw]

This is an excellent video. The disclaimers are perfect. Too many people do a Google search and think that they can polish damaged chrome and completely restore it. It just doesn’t work that way and this video shows and explains the reasons why. Good job!

[stephenlewis]

Good to see those methods tested by someone who knows what they are doing. Thank you.

[rodneymiller]

Turtle Wax company makes a product called Chrome Polish & rust remover. I use it with a soft microfiber towel. When all the rust is gone I completely wash all areas with soap and water. After dry, I hand wax and polish the areas I removed the rust from. Works the best for me.

[rottnlove]

Wd-40 sprayed on the surface and then rubbing it with a wadded up ball of cheap aluminum foil is what was used for chrome bumpers as long as the rust hadn't caused any pitting into the surface. This was how my dad had always restored the chrome on all of the multiple different cars he has completely restored and rebuilt over the years. My very first vehicle was already 16 years old when I was born and 30 years old by the time I got my permit to learn how to drive. It was nothing but a completely stripped out and bare metal body when I decided I wanted it. It was a 64 Malibu Chevelle sedan and everything chrome on it was a salvage from junkyards and got the wd-40 and aluminum foil hand rubbed treatment and it was like it was brand new.

[andreokazaki]

On rusty chrome that is rust pitted beyond saving, I use a product called S.O.S steel wool pads. They are fine like the wire wool that you showed, but the difference is in the pad itself. These must be used wet as well, but the big difference is the blue soapy material that is impregnated in the pad. They are dry until activated with water which makes them a little messy but the soapy stuff is rather slippery and keeps the part lubricated and reduces scratching. I live in Canada where this product has been marketed as a method of cleaning stainless cookware. It's available at grocery and hardware stores, and has been around as long as I can remember.

[davidsnyder]

That very interesting to see all methods side by side. I can’t recall anyone ever doing a comparison like this before👍 Really nice, thank you 🙂

[samrodian]

If I were attempting something like this I'd use the oooo wire wool, but instead of water, I would always use WD40 as a lubricant, the added bonus is that it is left in the rusty pitted parts and does to a degree help stop the rust getting worse. Also I'd put a good wax polish on top after to try to seal the open rust pits.

[OZ-HOG-RON]

Great video! I appreciate the time you took comparing the three options. You answered my questions without having to do the comparisons myself! Good job!!!

[SanjoLocs]

Thank you sir for taking the time doing this for me and all the others that are wondering

[lindleyca]

Thanks! I'm just about to restore some chrome for the first time and couldn't decide which method to use.

[coffeebeforemascara]

Very much appreciate this video. And actually enjoyed the music that you had playing in the background

[butewinner]

Very good vid, faithfully carried out to answer all questions. thx

Rust is not in the chrome layer, rust is in the base metal, with cheap metal base you'll always have rust punching through the chrome layer.

Regular polishing will get rid of the pin head bits of rust and not allow it to grow to blisters of rust.
Thx again for the vid and the other peoples comments Very helpful

[chongtak]

This test made by a pro is of great value.

[freds]

I suggest a bath in Evaporust. I treated a pitted chrome bicycle fork and it removed all of the rust stain as well as the rust in the fine pits. Totally harmless to steel and chrome. Leaves carbon from the rust on objects that can be removed with oil like WD40 and a soft cloth. Wish I could post a picture.

[ededmund]

WHEN I WAS 16 , 1967, that summer I worked in a used car lot , I was told , a wet rag rubded on the dirty floor dirt and grease . all the rust was removed, , then a coating of wax IT WORKED AMAZING ..
wow good videos thx Ed

[l.e.]

About time a real pro showed true results of DIY “repairing rust” on chrome, & big damage same means causes on new good chrome. Thanks for confirming no DIY “like new fix”, only facade of less rust damage.

[peterjenkinson]

I use fine wire wool and Brasso which works well, if you can get it down to the the chrome but with a few pits give it a spray with silver spray and then polish back off so that the spray fills the pits.

[KDWOLF]

Very happy I found your channel. God Bless 🙏🏿

[GettingNervous]

I get the best results with steel wool, only I use thin oil instead of water. There is very little phosphoric acid in Coke and citric acid is more important in derusting. In addition, it is always a mess with Coke. But of course it always depends on the degree of rusting.