Who's the Genius who told me to clean my chrome with 0000 steel wool?!

[Tony66_au]

Hey I just bought some stainless Steelo soap pads from the supermarket and I'm wondering if it's fine enough??  0000???  It says it's not suitable for non-stick cookware and other delicate surfaces but it's guaranteed not to rust.....   

Err no Mark........

Good for pots though

[oversize]

So what gives?  Where do I get the correct stuff and is it available in stainless?

[wbrian63]

Try a big-box home-improvement store. Here in the states they are Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, etc.

0000 ("four ott") steel wool is used extensively in woodworking. I've used it before to dull-down the finish on lacquered cabinets.

The key here is that you're using a steel that is less hard than the chrome, but harder than the crap that's embedded into the chrome.

[Big_Richard]

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[oversize]

So would I be correct in assuming that the stainless pads are harder than the chrome and will scratch it to buggery???

[ptashek]

I've tried grade 0 (not 0000) on a few parts off the car, and it does the job as well. The key is to use soapy water as lubricant, and very little pressure. According to Wikipedia, the difference in fibre diameter (in millimetres) goes like this:

grade 000#    from 0.00635 to 0.00889
grade 0#    from 0.0127 to 0.0381

So grade 0 is about 2 to 4.3 times thicker than grade 0000. Not sure how this translates to its abrasive properties, but it didn't ruin any of the parts I have cleaned with it.

[JasonP]

Nose grease adds a nice shine. And it protects!

[thysonsacclaim]

So would I be correct in assuming that the stainless pads are harder than the chrome and will scratch it to buggery???

Chrome: Mohs hardness   8.5
Stainless: Mohs hardness 4.5-8


I would go with regular #0000 pads as suggested, and non-stainless (aka rust-able) if possible. Scouring pads like used for dishes would appear to be harder, as they appear to be stainless steel, which is harder.

If you can't find anything else, copper pads would probably be OK.


Also, the size of the fibers is important in the same way that sand paper grain size is important.

Also, I wanted to add that keeping a pack of 0000 steel wool and a 9 volt battery is good if you're planning an outdoor excursion or for a survival pack. You can start a fire very easily by shorting the battery out on a wad of the steel wool.

[oversize]

The reason I was looking at stainless is because I'm very concerned about rust....  These cars seem prone to rust if left out in the elements and I don't wanna put fuel on the fire by introducing something that'll definitely rust quickly.  If steel wool had to be used, I'd be inclined to remove the bumper rubbers at the very least, and give the bars a thorough wash and dry afta.  Otherwise the fine strands may become wedged in the rubbers and ruin a very nice initial finish.  If I was really being pedantic I'd be removing and disassembling the parts to be re-finished completely.  And at that point you might as well go the whole hog and re-chrome, or zinc.

[Big_Richard]

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[KenM]

You definately do need to rinse it off well, the fibres are very small but as MT has shown it works extremely well. Good for glass too, will remove dullness and light pitting from headlights etc, not for use on

aluminium, I would think it will remove the anodising and then you are in strife. I would definately only use the 0000 grade stuff, can buy a box of it from Bunnings or any hardware.

[Tony66_au]

Normally 0000 is used on older cars without bump strips and some dishwashing detergent works a treat with this stuff.

id recommend a blast with a pressure cleaner afterwards

[Big_Richard]

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[Tony66_au]

Normally 0000 is used on older cars without bump strips and some dishwashing detergent works a treat with this stuff.

id recommend a blast with a pressure cleaner afterwards

Isn't dish-washing detergent bad for cars ?

Apparently it is but so is using steel wool on your paintwork so if we stick to using it on Chrome we should be fine eh?

And to be brutally honest Car wash mixtures are even worse when combined with 2000 PSI water jets.

So the trick here is to use all things in moderation AND rinse well!

Hell what do i know, I washed my car in Caustic parts wash solution, De-anodising my brightwork in the process and setting back the cause of shiny cars to the dark ages.

[oversize]

Ouch that sounds nasty!!!!