Polishing Aluminum Trim is the Pits!

Remembering Erma shows your age! She lived just a couple miles down the road from me and she offered some very good food for thought, it was a shame to lose her so early.

steel wool and vinegar is remarkably quick at polishing aluminum, for deep pits, I'd use fine grade sandpaper then steel wool to give it a nice shiny sheen.

For gods sake, DO NOT polish aluminum inside, it's a mess! You will have the black aluminum oxide dust everywhere, and it will not clean up easily. Polish aluminum OUTSIDE, in the shade! Also wear a respirator.

You cannot polish PITS (they will just fill up with black compound), they have to be sanded out "before you start" the polishing step of the process.

The amount of pitted corrosion is a determining factor on "if I will even buy" a trailer. It's much more cost effective, to pay more, and find a nicer, easier trailer (less pitted) to restore.

It still takes me, "one day per window" to restore, rebuild, re-glaze, re-seal, sand and polish the frame and eyebrow.

Every time, I hear a trailer owner tell me, "they are going to do their own windows", they always bring them back to me "not done"!

I agree, I HATE windows.

I have found that a pad sander with fine paper will work on window frames to make getting pits out a lot easier and faster. Lay the window down on a good supporting surface on top of a large piece of cardboard for cushion then start with a 150/220 grit paper and work your way finer till you get the finish you want. You will still have to work the corners by hand but it can save you hours.

I picked up a dremel polishing kit today. I'll share w/ everyone how it works and which one I used.


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I wasn't sure what one I was going to like so the kit seemed the way to go. Heck, it was only $15 and I'm sure I'll end up getting use out of most everything in it. So far, the softer wire brush is working great at removing the pits. Much easier and quicker than sand paper, and any scratches seem to be polishing right out.


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  It's no fun polishing the Aluminum Trim, that's for sure. Depending on how "pitted" it might be of course will determine how hard you have to hit it. I did not like the Flapper Rigs in Orange and then the Blues. I guess if I had it on a stationary Bench Grinder or something with some power it would have been different. I am glad that it worked for you. 
Effort versus results did not pay off for me.
  For others in the hunt, I'd be careful jumping the gun with a wire brush drill rig or abrasive “grinder style” sanders. I recommend trying some, heavy steel wool dipped in Turpentine. The Turpentine helps mud-up the aluminum dust so you want make streak scratches. You can see fast results sometimes but getting it down the home stretch can be a tiresome pain in the wrist.
  One of my first repairs was resealing the rear window.. Before I knew about the Steel Wool and Turpentine trick I took a fine wire brush attached to my drill to it. Oh Yeah.. It cleaned it up… Looks like a “swirly, machine filed mess” absent any pitting of course. It’s the eyesore of my camper. Next time the window is out I’ll have to sand out the “removal” scratches and buff them all out. Perhaps by then I'll have something more suited for the task..