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Repairing acid damage to chrome rims

Hi, my name is Brandon Scott. I own a detail shop in SC. One of my employees was cleaning a set of chrome rims with hydrochloric acid and left it on one too long. This causes a burned looking film on the surface. Is there any way I can fix this other than dipping the rim. Trying to save money and fix the problem.

Brandon Scott
car detailer - Darlington, South Carolina
December 24, 2009

Hi, Brandon. You can't clean chrome with hydrochloric acid since the acid will completely remove the chrome in seconds (the acid doesn't remove the underlying nickel, which looks rather similar, so your employees might not even realize that damage was done. The best that you can hope for at this point is that the wheel is replateable. Sorry.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
December 28, 2009

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