Metal Polishing

Metal polish brings the shine back to bare metal: real chrome, polished alloy wheels, and stainless and aluminium exhaust tips. The range covers Mothers Mag & Aluminum, Angelwax Alchemy, AutoBrite Metalworx, Autobead and NowRevive polishes, plus Mothers Powerball, Powerball Mini and Powercone 360 drill attachments and a Lake Country exhaust polishing sponge.

How to choose

• The tools only apply the polish, so you need one of the polishes either way.
• A cloth is enough for badges, trim and tailpipes. In a drill, the Powerball covers wheel faces and larger areas, the smaller Mini gets into tighter spots and the cone-shaped Powercone reaches inside exhaust tips and wheel barrels.

Good to know

• Metal polish hazes paint, chrome-effect plastic and the lacquer on most alloy wheels. Test a hidden spot with a white cloth: bare aluminium turns it black straight away; on a coated surface it stays clean. Clean coated wheels with Wheel Cleaners instead.
• Oxidised metal takes several rounds: polish, buff off the black residue, repeat until the shine stops improving. The residue rarely washes out of microfibre, so keep a couple of cloths for metal only.

How do you polish exhaust tips?

Check they are bare stainless or aluminium first: a white cloth turns black straight away on bare metal. Then work in a metal polish with a cloth, or a cone-shaped drill attachment inside the tip, buff off the black residue and repeat until the shine stops improving.

Related: Wet Sanding & Specialist Correction, Wheels & Tyres, Microfibre Cloths. Popular brands here: Mothers, Angelwax, Autobead, NowRevive.