How to Polish Aluminum by Hand

Aluminum is found on a variety of different vehicles and vessels from trucks and cars to trailers and boats. When aluminum is properly polished, it shines like chrome:

Over time, however, the surface of aluminum will oxidize and turn dull. Accumulating oxidation, contamination and scratches erase the brilliant shine and leave behind a dirty haze:

There are a lot of different ways to polish aluminum to remove this oxidation and restore a glowing shine. In this article, we’ll focus on the easiest and most DIY-friendly method: How To Polish Aluminum by Hand.

Supplies Needed for Polishing Aluminum by Hand

Working by hand is the simplest way to remove oxidation and restore a brilliant shine.  This approach will require some old-fashioned elbow grease as well as a few old terrycloth towels and worn-out t-shirts plus a great aluminum polish.

• Aluminum polish
• Nitrile gloves
• Terry cloth towels – cut into smaller sections about 6” x 6” square
• Old t-shirts – cut into smaller sections about 6” x 6” square
• Metal Sealant
• Foam or microfiber applicator pads
• Optional:  Make-up removal cotton rounds
• Optional: Corn Starch

The process is pretty straightforward, you’re going to choose the type of material to start with based upon the current condition of the  aluminum.  

For Heavy Oxidation & Neglect: Rub with Terry Cloth

For severely neglected aluminum with lots of dull oxidation, you’ll remove the oxidation faster and easier if you start with terry cloth as your rubbing cloth.  The tiny loops of cotton string known as the nap provides a little more cleaning and abrading action working together with the abrasives in the metal polish. 

Compared to the flat weave of a cotton t-shirt, terrycloth is a lot more aggressive.  But note that due to this more aggressive nature of terrycloth, you may need to do a second and even third polishing step and for these steps, simply repolish using a softer material like cotton t-shirt.

For Light Oxidation & Neglect: Rub with Old T-Shirt Cloth

For light oxidation, you can often times start with the less aggressive, flat weave surface of sections of cloth cut out of an old t-shirt.  Old t-shirts have normally been worn and the washed and dried hundreds of times and this tends to make the feel and touch of the cotton surface soft and gentle when polishing and abrading oxidized aluminum.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Polishing Aluminum by Hand

For this demonstration I will be polishing the diamond plate aluminum sheeting on the top of the trailer hitch portion of an AeroVault car hauling trailer.  The entire trailer, including this chunk of diamond plate, is severely neglected, and oxidized.

Here’s a close-up shot of the area I will polish by hand.

1. Wash and dry aluminum to remove any loose dirt.  

2. Shake the metal polish well and apply directly onto the appropriate cloth material based upon the condition of the aluminum. In this example, I have a cotton terry cloth round applicator pad.

3. Rub the polish and the cloth in a back-and-forth motion over a section of aluminum.  If you can see a visible grain in the aluminum, be sure to rub back-and-forth in the direction of the grain.
   
   After rubbing hard for about a minute, you can see the amount of oxidation I’m removing from just a small area.

4. After a minute or so of fast rubbing with strong pressure, wipe off the results and inspect.
   
   Pro-Tip: Sprinkle cornstarch on your towel to make residue removal easier.
   

If you look closely, you can see that with just a little hand polishing, I have removed the oxidation and restored a pretty good shine to this one small section of diamond plate.

If the results meet your expectations, move onto a new section and be sure to overlap a little into the previously worked section for an overall uniform appearance.

If the results do not meet your expectations, you can try working a new section only for this section, switch over to a more aggressive cloth or polish or both.  At some point, you should be able to dial-in a process that removes the oxidation to your expectations while creating a brilliant, chrome-like shine.

If you are unable to dial-in a process to remove the oxidation and restore a factory-new appearance, it’s likely the only way to proceed will be to work by machine.

How to Get a Mirror Finish on Aluminum by Hand

Here’s a professional detailer’s secret to a showcar shine on aluminum.  The secret is to do a final polishing step using cotton rounds.  

Cotton Rounds are usually circular-shaped patches of super soft cotton that people use to remove cosmetic make-up off their face at the end of the day.

The reason cotton rounds can finish out nicer than old t-shirt cotton cloth is because it has no weave pattern. As soft as an old t-shirt can be, it still has a crosshatch weave pattern to the surface.  This light crosshatch weave pattern is what enables t-shirt material to provide some gentle abrading action to remove oxidation.  But this same crosshatch weave pattern simply is not as soft as cotton round.  A cotton round has no weave pattern, it’s just soft, fluffy cotton.

When trying to take the aluminum polishing results to the highest level, you need every aspect of the polishing process working for you and this means doing a dedicated final hand polishing step using a premium quality aluminum polish with a common but intrinsic addition to the process, mundane, ordinary cotton rounds.

1. Apply a small amount of polish onto a cotton round.

2. Spread the product over a small section of aluminum.

3. Gently rub the cotton round in a back-and-forth motion in the direction of any present or visible grain. 

4. If the aluminum is completely smooth, then rub in back-and-forth movements in a manner that best works for the shape and size of the section being polished.

5. Remove any excess polish using your best microfiber towels.

Here’s the results after a second polishing step using the same product and technique, the one thing that has changed is the applicator material – a round, cotton make-up remover.

The results are night and day.  But appearances can be deceiving.

Here’s the same section with a strong hand-held light shining on the polished section.  You can see swirls and scratches in the flat aluminum areas, and these are fairly good results knowing how bad the aluminum was to start with.

How to Protect Aluminum After Polishing by Hand

After you finish polishing the aluminum by hand, it’s a good idea to protect the newly restored surface with a ceramic coating designed to bond with metal surfaces. Here are step-by-step instructions for protecting polished aluminum with a ceramic coating:

1. Use a panel prep to chemically strip the surface to remove any residual polishing oils or solvents.  Or in this example, to remove the built-in sealant in the White Diamond Metal Polish formula.

2. Apply some of the Dr. Beasley’s Metal Coat or your choice of metal sealant onto a clean, foam or microfiber applicator pad.

3. Apply over a small section of metal surface at a time.  Spread and massage the product over the surface, working the product into the pores and grain of the aluminum to leave a thin, uniform layer of product.

4. Remove using a clean, dry microfiber towel.

5. Move onto the next section and repeat.

Here’s the results after sealing the surface with Metal Coat.  Keep in mind, Metal Coat is not a polish; it will not improve the results from polishing, simply seal the surface.  Also note that working by hand is the slowest, least effect way to remove swirls and scratches out of aluminum.  Making aluminum shiny is one thing, making it show car quality is another thing.

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This guide focuses on how to polish aluminum by hand. I’ve also got articles on how to polish aluminum by machine and how to polish diamond plate aluminum.

My Personal Offer to Help

I’ve been answering car detailing questions professionally since 2002 and moving forward, if after reading this article you have any questions about polishing and waxing, or how to use an AIO, my contact information is below, reach out to me, I’m always happy to help.

Would You Like to Learn How to Machine Polish Like a Pro?

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And if you ever have any questions, always feel free to reach out to me personally via text, phone call or email.

I hope to see you in a future detailing class!

Sincerely,

Mike Phillips

Chief Education Officer for Dr. Beasley’s

Mike@drbeasleys.com

760-515-0444