Stainless Steel Cleaner

[CaptTom]

A guy at a boat yard saw me going at my swim platform supports with never-dull and bar keepers friend. He insisted I try "The Works" toilet bowl cleaner. When I didn't sound convinced, he lent me his bottle.

Wow. I couldn't believe how much easier that made the job go. I bought my own bottle (under $4) as soon as I got home.

I haven't tried it on anything else yet, but I'm keeping in stock!

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by freelandken

Ran a search, but can't seem to find any suggestions or recommendations on what to use and/or how to clean rust from SS.
Can you help?
Thanks

We have been using (click on) "Spotless Stainless" for several years and find it very effective but easy to use.

FWIW...

[phantomracer]

Have tried most polishes (including miracle cloth,prism etc) and all do work well.

The past couple years, been using Spotless Stainless (mentioned above). I got to say, it actually works better, gets in the crevices like welds, and hard to reach areas far better... and keeps rust from coming back for a lot longer than any wax based polish.

Only downside is it still seems to evaporate too fast, so i cover it with plastic wrap after applying (usually with a chip brush).. then rinse after suggested time (I usually leave it on longer , sometimes overnight

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

Have tried most polishes (including miracle cloth,prism etc) and all do work well.

The past couple years, been using Spotless Stainless (mentioned above). I got to say, it actually works better, gets in the crevices like welds, and hard to reach areas far better... and keeps rust from coming back for a lot longer than any wax based polish.

Only downside is it still seems to evaporate too fast, so i cover it with plastic wrap after applying (usually with a chip brush).. then rinse after suggested time (I usually leave it on longer , sometimes overnight

I started a thread on this several years ago and of all the suggestions I received "the works" toilet bowl cleaner was far and away the best. I spent a lot of money for the spotless stainless product but found the toilet bowl cleaner worked every bit as well and just as easy to use for about $2.88 a quart vs about $32.00 a quart.

Steve.

[crabcake]

Originally Posted by captjcook

Bar Keepers Friend...(next to Ajax & Comet at grocery) is excellent for some things.

Cleaning Detail, a Mary-Kate product. I use this on stancions etc. also good for stains/rust on gelcoat.

Both have oxalic acid...

Good Luck!

And VERY INEXPENSIVE!

[phantomracer]

Originally Posted by clockwork orange

I started a thread on this several years ago and of all the suggestions I received "the works" toilet bowl cleaner was far and away the best. I spent a lot of money for the spotless stainless product but found the toilet bowl cleaner worked every bit as well and just as easy to use for about $2.88 a quart vs about $32.00 a quart.

Steve.

How well does it work at keeping rust from coming back? SS seems to leave some sort of coating (Chromium Oxide) on the stainless and keep rust from coming back. If The Works cleans but doesn't prevent re-rusting like SS does, might not be that much of a bargain, to me. I was very impressed how well SS prevented re-rusting

Considering one bottle lasts me about 2-3 years, the cost isn't a big factor, but I get the point. I think i will try The Works as well. Maybe half the boat with SS and half with the works.. Any problem with the toilet bowl cleaner affecting teak, fiberglass, awlgrip?

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

How well does it work at keeping rust from coming back? SS seems to leave some sort of coating (Chromium Oxide) on the stainless and keep rust from coming back. If The Works cleans but doesn't prevent re-rusting like SS does, might not be that much of a bargain, to me. I was very impressed how well SS prevented re-rusting

Considering one bottle lasts me about 2-3 years, the cost isn't a big factor, but I get the point. I think i will try The Works as well. Maybe half the boat with SS and half with the works.. Any problem with the toilet bowl cleaner affecting teak, fiberglass, awlgrip?

I'm in the great lakes so I can't comment on the re rusting and I also don't know how it affects other materials as I did my turnbuckles etc off the boat. My boat came from salt water and a lot of the ss parts had the typical stains, not really rust and the works did a great job of cleaning them up as did the spotless stainless, I think the works worked a little quicker with the same result. Maybe you could give it a try and see how it works in a salt water environment. The guy who suggested it to me had a boat detailing business and that's what he used but I don't remember where he was located so good point re re rusting.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by phantomracer

How well does it work at keeping rust from coming back? SS seems to leave some sort of coating (Chromium Oxide) on the stainless and keep rust from coming back.

Any problem with the toilet bowl cleaner affecting teak, fiberglass, awlgrip?

My understanding is that stainless needs contact with oxygen to keep from rusting. Anything that cleans thoroughly should do that. Anything that leaves a coating would presumably be suspect. The Works didn't seem to leave any residue.

I didn't have any problems with getting it on other materials (fiberglass, bronze exhaust, even bottom paint) but I was careful to wash it off immediately, as the yard guy who suggested it told me. I also assume you'd need to re-wax if you got it on any waxed surfaces.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's ever heard this advice. It really did seem to work better than anything I'd ever tried before.

[SVTatia]

What do we use for things inside the boat? I.e. I need to remove rust stains from the stainless stove.

I did a quick tally and there are 15 products/chemicals recommended.

Anything on the list that really cleans rust - not only polishes and that rinsing is not required?

1. Nevr-Dull
2. Bar Keepers Friend
3. Oxalic Acid
4. Grunt
5. Wichinox
6. Flitz
7. Miracle Cloth
8. Phosphoric acid
9. Ospho
10. Citric acid
11. Cleaning Detail
12. Soft Scrub
13. The Works
14. Spotless Stainless
15. Prims Polish

[rwidman]

Flitz is great but expensive The "wadding" dries up in the can.

For most stainless steel (rails, etc.) polishing I use metal polish from the auto parts store. Turtle Wax, Mothers, etc.

For places where that doesn't work like the heads of Phillips screws, threaded adjusters, et, I use Spotless Stainless.

I don't use toilet bowl cleaner or abrasives on my boat.

[Cotemar]

We use Collinite 920 for all things BOAT.

Including cleaning all the SS.

It work for so much more than most boaters even know.
.
.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

We have been using (click on) "Spotless Stainless" for several years and find it very effective but easy to use.

FWIW...

^^^^^^^ Surprised it took that long to come up.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by rwidman

Flitz is great but expensive The "wadding" dries up in the can.

The wadding is with Never Dull. Flitz comes in a tube.

[clockwork orange]

Originally Posted by SVTatia

What do we use for things inside the boat? I.e. I need to remove rust stains from the stainless stove.

I did a quick tally and there are 15 products/chemicals recommended.

Anything on the list that really cleans rust - not only polishes and that rinsing is not required?

1. Nevr-Dull
2. Bar Keepers Friend
3. Oxalic Acid
4. Grunt
5. Wichinox
6. Flitz
7. Miracle Cloth
8. Phosphoric acid
9. Ospho
10. Citric acid
11. Cleaning Detail
12. Soft Scrub
13. The Works
14. Spotless Stainless
15. Prims Polish

spotless stainless is citric acid based, I just read the label of the works and it is not clear which acid it is based on as all it lists are 9.5% hydrogen chloride and 90.5% other ingredients.

[Thumbs Up]

The works has muriatic acid, barkeepers friend has oxalicing acid, wichinox has phosphoric acid, spotless stainless has citric acid. There is something called pickling paste that has nitric acid but is dangerous. Polishing and passivation are the only ways to "prevent" rust but a lot of stainles surfaces are to far gone. Passivation can be accomplished using citric acid. You can buy citric acid powder cheap on E-bay and make a home brew but it won't remove existing rust as fast as phosphoric acid. Industrially, passivation is accomplished with nitric acid or citric acid. On new boats people usually wax all of the stainless (collinite etc.). Stainless doesn't like heat. This is a huge topic (stainless steel corrosion) but we are just talking about your stove here. If you go for the toilet bowl cleaner you could use it in your head too and it would keep the scale down in your plumbing.