a way to remove swirls and scratches from stainless

**poweraid** · 05-15-2011, 06:34 AM

I have some stainless add on's on my truck . sidesteps, push bar, door pillars. they all have swirls and scratches in them. nothing to catch a nail on but depending on the lighting can be very noticeable. is there a way or product to rid of these. hand applied metal polish does not seem to rid of them it shines it up nice though . door pillar trim replaceable not to expensive but held on with about 4 " wide strip of 3m double sided tape which is a pain to remove . any ideas please.

**BobbyG** · 05-15-2011, 06:38 AM

Hey Chad,

Maybe some Menzerna Power Gloss on an Orange pad? It might help....

**poweraid** · 05-15-2011, 06:52 AM

I will try it

**poweraid** · 05-16-2011, 01:18 PM

holy batman bobby . I have just used menzerna power gloss on stainless, with orange pad. scratches are improved . will try a few more passes . but this has very noticeably brightened it up considerably . its like a mirror almost . I don't think it will get out everything but a great improvement .

**poweraid** · 05-16-2011, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by poweraid

holy batman bobby . I have just used menzerna power gloss on stainless, with orange pad. scratches are improved . will try a few more passes . but this has very noticeably brightened it up considerably . its like a mirror almost . I don't think it will get out everything but a great improvement .

side note pad is prob shot for paint . it totally turned black . doubtful it will come clean. oh well order up some more pads

**poweraid** · 05-16-2011, 03:16 PM

update. using a surbuff pad with menz power gloss worked even better . left stainless little more dull . so followed with power finish and then with "new" optimum metal polish . this combo worked very well . not perfect results but very well satisfied, considering this is stainless not paint . pads were very black but did clean out completely .

**V3AutoDetailing** · 05-16-2011, 03:33 PM

Mike Phillips · 05-16-2011, 03:47 PM

Stainless Steel is really hard so getting swirls and scratches out will also be hard...

Making stainless steel shiny is different than getting swirls and scratches out...

Here's some stainless I recently improved, but the scratches were not completely removed...

From this thread...

1956 Pontiac Star Chief Convertible

Stainless Steel Fender Skirts - Before

Side-by-Side

After

Much better...

**Tyrod** · 05-16-2011, 04:00 PM

Stainless is easy, but time consuming. Unlike paint, it's the same material all the way through. Start with hand sanding wet/dry sandpaper at the grit necessary to remove the undesired marks. Use the paper wet. Then use finer and finer wet sandpaper until you get to the point where whatever powered polishing product you have will take you the rest of the way. You may have to sand the areas where there are no scratches so as to not induce a wavyness. If the scratches are really deep you may have to start with a file.