Letter 11151

MOONSHINE ALUMINUM POLISH (VERY STRONG)

+ I bought some polish from a guy at a truck stop. The polish was a homemade mixture in a 20 oz coke bottle, green in color it had a powder base at the bottom, and liquid at the top until you shook it up. The guy was polishing big truck wheels and tanks for $5.00 a wheel and $10.00 a tank and I'm talking commercial trucks. Now before I saw this stuff in action and I heard how much he charged, I was picturing my self with some Mothers or Blue Magic or any store bought polish , you know REALLY PUTTING THE ELBOW GREASE INTO IT. So I'm thinking this guy is a guy with a lot of time on his hands or he has got some STRONG STUFF . Well , he had some strong stuff. You could very lightly rub an oxidized or faded aluminum spot or surface and automatically black residue, in seconds it was shining and I'm talking fix your hair in the reflection shine And you don't have to wait a while for it to come to a dry haze like the others, you could almost instantly wipe it off. Now this stuff is what I call MOONSHINE POLISH because it's homemade and you can't buy stuff in stores as strong as it is. Now I asked the guy what he had in it. All I remember is rust inhibitor and a little Blue Magic along with many other things I didn't catch. If what he told me was true... I don't know. Now I'm familiar that there are many people that hang out at truck stops with similar products. DOES ANYBODY KNOW OF A RECIPE FOR SOMETHING SIMILAR OR WHERE I CAN ORDER OR MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS? Chad H [last name purged due to age of posting] - LaGrange, GA, USA + Hello Chad, I'd suggest tuning your CB radio to channel 19, and wait for somebody to advertise it. I've heard it myself, however this guy was selling chrome polish, truckers seem to get into their chrome parts and lighting effects. I don't know if a rust inhibitor is the right additive, that would be for steel, maybe he meant a corrosive inhibitor? If I were you, I'd track down the formula and then start writing ads for it. Good luck,

Jake Koch G. J. Nikolas & Co., Inc. Bellwood, IL

Blue Magic and other polishes contain ammonia which can cause aluminum to oxidize and tarnish a lot faster than it should. Products with ammonia seem to work really good but they do more damage in the long run. Be careful what you use!

Philip M [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Linn Ks

If the stuff is that good, next time you see the salesman, buy some of the product. You would have a lot better chance of having someone help you with the formulation if you could give us a hint. Acid or base, smells of what? ammonia? chlorine, what?

The powder base at the bottom must be some kind of compound like you would get in a can of polishing compound. Fine enough to polish without leaving scratches. I wouldn't guess on the liquid part unless I knew more about it.

Tom Pullizzi platronica.com Falls Township, PA

Funny that I should happen across this today as I have just finished making my first batch of "home brew" aluminum polish.

I am using a white buffer wheel compound ¹ which also comes in green depending on the abrasive quality you need. You can purchase these "bricks" of compound at your local truck stop for a tad over 10 bucks and they will go a long way. The liquid is mineral spirits [link is to product info at Rockler] and I'm told you can add a little bit of lemon juice to it also for oxidation purposes. The trick is to get the compound from brick to powder form and for this I used a coarse wood rasp. I'll forewarn you to not use your good rasp as the compound will wear out the teeth after a while. I'm still playing around with the formula to get it right but that's pretty much it. I'll be trying it out on my Mack work truck tomorrow so wish me luck.

Mike W [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- New Orleans, LA, USA

Sourcing-- Click the graphic for:

from Eastwood.

Ingredients for coke bottle mixture: 1/4 bottle jewelers rouge (white or green) comes in square brick block at local truck stop. Need to shave block with hard knife or saw put shaving in bottle. add not quite 5/8 mineral spirits ¹ shake well and allow to dissolve 1/8 bottle liquid ammonia allow time to dissolve to creamy consistency.

Kelly B [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- St. Amant, LA, USA

Sourcing--

Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits quart can from Mister Art.

I was wondering if any other solvents could be used besides Mineral Spirits. Does Mineral Spirits have any special additives that make it better for polishing, or is it just a handy solvent that people have become accustomed to using? I am wondering this because I cannot find Mineral Spirits where I live. Thanks.

Andy N [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Brandon, MB, Canada

Ed. note: We've added a sourcing link above, Andy, where you can get odorless mineral spirits on line.

I found the mineral spirits and made up some of the polish. It works great. The mineral spirits is a great solvent because it is not hard on your hands.

Andy N [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Brandon, MB, Canada

2/3 mineral spirits 1/3 baking soda

ROD T [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Regina, SK, Canada

If you want a good polish, try speedy (renu) metal polish, it's on the net, & works just like you describe. A lot of the homemade polishes don't have a wax content. This is what keeps the oxidation down. If you insist on making it yourself, get a bottle of carnuba wax. You'll thank yourself in the long run.

Tom H [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Smithton IL.

One of those truck stop polishers told me that you can use the green rouge with lighter fluid and some carnuba wax. Works like a charm.

Floyd P [name deleted for privacy due to age of posting]
- Jasper, Alabama, USA

Indulge me for just a little background. I'm Chaplain at a Pilot in TN. In an effort to raise support for our outreach to the community, as well as truckers, we've been looking into getting into the polishing service. Half the money raised goes to support local church youth mission trips. The other half is for chaplains, ministry supplies like tracts and bibles, and support for ministries to drivers and families.

Now that you know why, here is what we've come up with. Over the last year we have had several polishers set up shop at the truck stop. As you know, they don't stay long for a variety of reasons. Last week we had a couple there that had been to our weekly fellowship dinner. I told them about the plans we had and they shared the formula for the green soup. I asked for it because of the fantastic job it had done on the tractor they were doing. I made my first batch yesterday morning before heading to the truck show here at the fairgrounds. I tried a little on a friends tractor in really bad spots that had no shine at all. I purposely avoided the wheels and tanks because I didn't want to do any damage if the soup wasn't any good. It was fantastic. I'll be doing his wheels and tanks this afternoon, and post a full report regarding the success. There's no sense in putting out the formula until I'm convinced it's the best.

Please pray for our success in this service.

blessings
chuck (hopehauler)

chuck sonn
Hope Haulers / Highway Fellowship - Nashville TN

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