How to make metal polish

February 29, 2008

Hello!

I just want to know if you can give me suggestions on how to make a metal polish. I'll be proposing your suggested procedure to our Science Investigatory Project. I'm a 4th year student at Batangas Province Science High School. I'll be graduating soon! .

thank you, really.

Mariz L
student - Philippines

March 4, 2008

Mariz, this sounds like a good thought experiment for students of your age, which can then be further evaluated by a real experiment.

First, it would seem that it would depend on what metal you are trying to polish. After all, which is the best sauce to put on your food -- Chocolate, Hollandaise, or Bar-B-Que? You may find that a polish works well on several metals, but start with one, and evaluate its performance with that one.

Then think about how you can remove tarnish: you can mechanically abrade it away, or you can chemically dissolve it. So which do you want your polish to do, or a little of both? When the polish shines the metal it will leave it extremely active and prone to retarnishing, so do you want some kind of wax or oil or preservative included in the polish? You can read some of the ingredients in commercial metal polishes, although the manufacturer does not tell you the complete formulation.

If you want to make an aluminum polish, letter 11151 will prove very interesting, but note that some of the contributors proposed extremely hazardous ideas that you should not follow. Good luck.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
finishing.com
Brick, New Jersey