What's the best way to clean stainless (stantions, etc.) so that they will stay rust free the longest?
rdtsails@email.msn.com
Cleaning Stainless
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Bristol Bronze
Re: Cleaning Stainless
I have found that the best thing to use to clean the rust stains from "stainless steel" is a product by 3M company called ScotchBrite. You can buy it in a pad form in most boat supply stores. It is a mild abrasive and will not scratch. It contains no chemicals. We use ScotchBrite wheels in the shop to polish all our fittings.Ryan Turner wrote: What's the best way to clean stainless (stantions, etc.) so that they will stay rust free the longest?
The reason that your fittings are rusting is that ALL stainless steel contains come iron. Iron rusts! Unless your fittings were passivated at the time of manufacture they will continue to rust for their whole life. There is really no solution that lasts.
Roger W.
Bristol Bronze
401-625-5224
rogerw@meganet.net
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Ken Cave
Re: Cleaning Stainless
Starbrite also has a great product that will clean and polish the stainless at the same time, and does not have anything in the way of a rough cleaning product. It is called Chrome and Stainless Polish-costs about $6.00 (with tax) from West Marine. Easy to use!!
Ken Cave
bcave@whidbey.net
Ken Cave
bcave@whidbey.net
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Tom
Re: Cleaning Stainless
The best thing I've found is Colombite 850 it's a cleaner and wax available at Boat US and many oher places. But none of them last very long. Do NOT use All Shield it's the worst and promotes rust.
TomCambria@mindspring.com
Ryan Turner wrote: What's the best way to clean stainless (stantions, etc.) so that they will stay rust free the longest?
TomCambria@mindspring.com
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Larry DeMers
Re: Cleaning Stainless
Folks, lets work backwards on this one, and maybe the answer will be obvious here. S.S. forms an oxide on it's surface after it has been passivated at the factory (this is true for all Cape Dory boats, since they were manufactured before the EPA restrictions on using Nitric Acid for passivation. Now days, S.S. is NOT passivated using Nitric Acid, but there are other less effective acids being used..including acetic acid -more in a moment).
This passivation or oxide needs oxygen to remain in effect..in other words, if you rub off the oxide layer..**or cover it in wax or other air barriers**, the S.S. will be fine until you scratch off the wax, or it is eliminated due to UV exposure. Then the metal will start to rust, as oxygen is accessing the iron ion in the S.S., causing rapid oxidation of the iron (rust).
Ok, so it seems that by "taking care of " our S.S., ie: waxing or polishing it with a waxy product, we are actually hastening it's demise thru oxidation of the iron in the S.S.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to wash andpolish the metal with a soft cloth..no wax. This will allow the natural oxidation of the surface to occur, which appears as a faint white powder. This will be the desired oxidation due to passivation, not the oxidation of the iron ion in the metal. Remove the protective layer, and you will get the other oxidation.
Last night on "Ship Shape Tv", a poorly scripted but marginally interesting 30 minute cable show about power boat maintenance, they had a stern swim platform made of teak and mounted to a power boat with S.S. flat stock, that had been welded. It appeared to be all but totally consumed in rust, to the point of fialure of the platform itself..that was S.S. and it was not that old either. The shows host, John Gravitis (sp) commented that he was replacing the S.S. with something that would not rust..marine aluminum! So you can see the way things have changed now that S.S. is not passivated properly. It is no longer possible to use in a salt environment due to this problem.
My advise is to leave the S.S. alone after washing and wiping dry. You are just inviting additional expensive and difficult problems by trying to do what we all thought we were supposed to do..waxing and polishing.
Interestingly, Roger at Bristol Bronze told me that he was able to make most parts (Stanchions were our discussion) we need from his own proprietary bronze alloy, which can then be chrome plated for a bright finish. It would be more expensive than the S.S., but also stronger and more durable over the long run.
Cheers,
Larry DeMers
demers@sgi.com
Cape Dory 30 ~~~~Launching this weekend, on Lake Superior~~~
demers@sgi.com
This passivation or oxide needs oxygen to remain in effect..in other words, if you rub off the oxide layer..**or cover it in wax or other air barriers**, the S.S. will be fine until you scratch off the wax, or it is eliminated due to UV exposure. Then the metal will start to rust, as oxygen is accessing the iron ion in the S.S., causing rapid oxidation of the iron (rust).
Ok, so it seems that by "taking care of " our S.S., ie: waxing or polishing it with a waxy product, we are actually hastening it's demise thru oxidation of the iron in the S.S.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to wash andpolish the metal with a soft cloth..no wax. This will allow the natural oxidation of the surface to occur, which appears as a faint white powder. This will be the desired oxidation due to passivation, not the oxidation of the iron ion in the metal. Remove the protective layer, and you will get the other oxidation.
Last night on "Ship Shape Tv", a poorly scripted but marginally interesting 30 minute cable show about power boat maintenance, they had a stern swim platform made of teak and mounted to a power boat with S.S. flat stock, that had been welded. It appeared to be all but totally consumed in rust, to the point of fialure of the platform itself..that was S.S. and it was not that old either. The shows host, John Gravitis (sp) commented that he was replacing the S.S. with something that would not rust..marine aluminum! So you can see the way things have changed now that S.S. is not passivated properly. It is no longer possible to use in a salt environment due to this problem.
My advise is to leave the S.S. alone after washing and wiping dry. You are just inviting additional expensive and difficult problems by trying to do what we all thought we were supposed to do..waxing and polishing.
Interestingly, Roger at Bristol Bronze told me that he was able to make most parts (Stanchions were our discussion) we need from his own proprietary bronze alloy, which can then be chrome plated for a bright finish. It would be more expensive than the S.S., but also stronger and more durable over the long run.
Cheers,
Larry DeMers
demers@sgi.com
Cape Dory 30 ~~~~Launching this weekend, on Lake Superior~~~
Ryan Turner wrote: What's the best way to clean stainless (stantions, etc.) so that they will stay rust free the longest?
demers@sgi.com
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Dan Moore
Re: Cleaning Stainless
So.... No one recommends Noxon?Ken Cave wrote: Starbrite also has a great product that will clean and polish the stainless at the same time, and does not have anything in the way of a rough cleaning product. It is called Chrome and Stainless Polish-costs about $6.00 (with tax) from West Marine. Easy to use!!
Ken Cave
ride9618@ride.ri.net