I did a quick search and didnt find any info on this, but a friend of mine had his car detailed recently and they told him in order to restore his chrome rims, they used a brillo pad to clean them (not the barrel, but the actual lip and face of the rim). has any one heard of this ?? Is this even safe? the rims did look amazingly clean after and i did not notice any scratches. any info is greatly appreciated

 

Brillo pads are too abrasive to clean chrome. I would recommend claying it and using a light polish first before using Brillo pads. Light scratches will be visible on chrome directly in the sun, so if you look at the chrome in the shade it will shine regardless and surface scratches would not be visible. Once you scratch up chrome, you could never polish it out so try the least aggressive abrasive first before you go to the most abrasive.

 

a brillo pad? i would assume that would scuff the hell out of the lip.

 

haha... so would i. but this is what my friend told me the detailer told him soooo

one hot - thanks for the suggestions. i will use some clay and menzerna(?) - but which one? thanks again

 

Yea, I dont know about an actual brillo pad, that might be pushing it. You dont want to use anything that is harder than chrome since thats what'll cause some further scratching. Plenty of people have used 0000 steel wool on chrome, but dont use a lot of pressure.

And if you're looking for a nice chrome polish, optimum metal polish has provided some really great results. P21s Polishing Soap is also a great option fwiw.

 

You can order some 00 steel wool. Make sure it's 00 though. You can also use it for your exhaust.

 

maybe this is what he meant i will include in my order

 

Steel wool would be the most abrasive thing I would use on chrome, even that will leave fine scuff marks,clay followed by 3M swirl remover works fine for me,or just swirl remover on soft cloth.