C

crabandy

Well Known Member
Re-polished my airplane looks great in the hangar but have cloudy spots all over in the sunshine.
Perfect Polish website “tips” suggest contamination or polish itself can get worked into the metal, pretty sure this is causing my cloudy spots. They recommend alumiprep 33 to clean followed by a polish.

Any source on Alumiprep 33 (Bonderite C-IC 33 Aero) or alternative? Around $50 for a gallon but also $50-$70 for shipping as a hazardous substance.
 
I know exactly how you feel. If I may offer two suggestions. I spoke to a Nuvite engineer at Airventure about this issue. She suggested that using old polish can cause a cloudy finish. I started throwing away any can older than six months. Perfect Polish used to sell buffing material that was 100% cotton. The new material I received from them was a mixture of cotton and some synthetic material. I believe the synthetic material would stretch and heat up faster causing a less than satisfactory finish. I started buy bulk 100% cotton sweatshirt material on Amazon. It worked better and was cheaper.

Good luck. Polishing is a passion or a disease, or so I am told.
 
crabandy said:
Re-polished my airplane looks great in the hangar but have cloudy spots all over in the sunshine.
Perfect Polish website “tips” suggest contamination or polish itself can get worked into the metal, pretty sure this is causing my cloudy spots. They recommend alumiprep 33 to clean followed by a polish.

Any source on Alumiprep 33 (Bonderite C-IC 33 Aero) or alternative? Around $50 for a gallon but also $50-$70 for shipping as a hazardous substance.
Click to expand...
It is only considered “hazardous material“ if shipped by air;
that stuff is just a mixture of diluted phosphoric acid.
Although not as aggressive you can use vinegar or lemon juice, or tartaric acid (cream of tartar).
I wonder about Flitz? Think it is in the alkaline range by the ammonia odor.
 
(semi-off topic) I thought the 'clouds' on my -7 polish were from too much heat during the procedure. Either lingering too long or pressing too hard.
A quick redo on the spots did not help much. I would clean out the areas with mineral spirits and redo and results were better.
Will have to try the Alumiprep next time.
 
sahrens said:
I know exactly how you feel. If I may offer two suggestions. I spoke to a Nuvite engineer at Airventure about this issue. She suggested that using old polish can cause a cloudy finish. I started throwing away any can older than six months. Perfect Polish used to sell buffing material that was 100% cotton. The new material I received from them was a mixture of cotton and some synthetic material. I believe the synthetic material would stretch and heat up faster causing a less than satisfactory finish. I started buy bulk 100% cotton sweatshirt material on Amazon. It worked better and was cheaper.

Good luck. Polishing is a passion or a disease, or so I am told.
Click to expand...
Great tips!
I did use up the old polish but most was done with a new can. I’ll have to get some bulk cotton material, any link or suggestions? A quick search shows some “organic” cotton and various oz per yard.
Thank!
 
Dr_Dave_MT said:
It is only considered “hazardous material“ if shipped by air;
that stuff is just a mixture of diluted phosphoric acid.
Although not as aggressive you can use vinegar or lemon juice, or tartaric acid (cream of tartar).
I wonder about Flitz? Think it is in the alkaline range by the ammonia odor.
Click to expand...
Thought about trying vinegar or diluting phosphoric acid.
 
BruceW said:
(semi-off topic) I thought the 'clouds' on my -7 polish were from too much heat during the procedure. Either lingering too long or pressing too hard.
A quick redo on the spots did not help much. I would clean out the areas with mineral spirits and redo and results were better.
Will have to try the Alumiprep next time.
Click to expand...
I’ve “burned” the metal before that left cloudiness, what I currently have is lighter/different.

First time I polished I burned the metal pushing too hard/to many RPM on the compounding buffer, one more very light polish/pass would clean the burn marks out. Actually found this technique faster on the initial polish than 4-5 light passes.
 
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