Flitz or Another Polish

I'm thinking of buying a Flitz package (Ball and polish) to hit the railings and hatch covers. I'd like to get them shiny-er-ish and there is some light surface rust in a few places that needs removing. It also claims to remove scratches from hatch covers. Does this stuff work as advertisd? (I see it on ShipShape TV all the time) Is there a cheaper alternative I could get at an auto parts store?

Thanks,

Tom-

I even see Buff Magic listed under metal polishes.

I bought, which is a waste of money for the ball.* The paste is about equal to other metal polish paste.**A regular drill polish pad will work just as well.

GonzoF1 wrote:
I'm thinking of buying a Flitz package (Ball and polish) to hit the railings and hatch covers. I'd like to get them shiny-er-ish and there is some light surface rust in a few places that needs removing. It also claims to remove scratches from hatch covers. Does this stuff work as advertisd? (I see it on ShipShape TV all the time) Is there a cheaper alternative I could get at an auto parts store?

Thanks,

Tom-

Click to expand...

*Here is one that I use.* It does a great job.*

http://www.collinitemarine.com/products.htm

Phil Fill wrote:
I bought, which is a waste of money for the ball.* The paste is about equal to other metal polish paste.**A regular drill polish pad will work just as well.

Click to expand...

I have my Mikita buffer, but I wonder if it would conform to the weird angles of railings. What pad would you use? What about one of those red balls from Pep Boys that does wheels?

Wife works for a place that seels things over the internet. They got back a large bottle of Flitz as a return that had been opened. So being alert she asked for the bottle rather than see it become dumpster fodder.

That stuff is great. It really does a nice job on stainless and it leaves it protected as well.

She tried it on our old dinghy (PVC)...cleaned it up really easy. She just used a microfiber cloth to apply and remove.

*

Flitz will not take rust stains off stainless.

I wish it did.

Works great on Aluminum.

SD

GonzoF1 wrote:Phil Fill wrote:
I bought, which is a waste of money for the ball.* The paste is about equal to other metal polish paste.**A regular drill polish pad will work just as well.

Click to expand...

I have my Mikita buffer, but I wonder if it would conform to the weird angles of railings. What pad would you use? What about one of those red balls from Pep Boys that does wheels?

*I use a regular round flat pad.* Use the edges for the tight area/corners.*


-- Edited by Phil Fill on Wednesday 29th of June 2011 10:29:03 AM

And just your standard-basic paste metal polish from AutoZone?

skipperdude wrote:
Flitz will not take rust stains off stainless.

I wish it did.

Works great on Aluminum.

SD

Click to expand...

*I don't intend to be argumentative, but it did for us. Apparently our mileage varies.

*

We had light rust on the stainless stays on the flybridge canvas.* Not only did Flitz take the rust off of the stainless, it also removed the rust from the window that had rubbed against the rusty stay.* I spent a day at anchor polishing every piece of stainless on the boat.* That was 9 months ago and I still don't need to redo it.* I'm sold on it and use it for stainless, aluminum and as a silver polish.

Lyle

So some like it and some don't... Great... Dang. Back the the old drawing board. ;-) I guess I'll try a few cheap options from the auto store before I throw down $50 for the Flitz kit.

jleonard wrote:skipperdude wrote:
Flitz will not take rust stains off stainless.

I wish it did.

Works great on Aluminum.

SD

Click to expand...

*I don't intend to be argumentative, but it did for us. Apparently our mileage varies.

*

*I bought the kit at a Sportsman show. I guess my stainless was a bit more rusty or more weathered. It just didn't seem to work. perhaps I will break it out for another try.

SD

Flitz, Simichrome and 3M's metal polish are all about the same. Jewler's rouge and some other goodies work well. The first two are available at your local auto shop usually, and work well. I used to run an electron microscope and I used either of the first two to clean up things before they went into the chamber.

One thing that works extremely well on stainless rails and hardware is "Wichinox".... Its a compound that contains a mild acid that cleans and also promotes passivation of the stainless steel. It does remove rust from stainless steel..... Just follow the directions and its easy to use.