Having recently had the misfortune of having a family member ask if I could clean up some aluminum pans, I wanted to add some notes to the aluminum finishing section of the site.
The aluminum cleaning section mentions using Dawn power dissolver... which it appears they sort of discontinued 4-5 years ago... at least it doesn't seem to be offered via normal retail channels any more... but amazon seems to have it for about $20 a bottle... there are some online sources that claim that you can make it yourself with some simple ingredients (TSP, borax, etc.) not sure about that.
The pieces that I was trying to clean were not smooth... both had a bit of texture to them, one was hammered, the other was more of a light dimpled texture and I was looking for a degreaser to remove some black gunk from the hammered piece. I saw some suggestions online of a product called Carbon Off that was safe for aluminum... I found some at a local restaurant supply shop for a bit over $20 for a spray can... not something I would want to use a lot, due to the price... but it seems to work as advertised... it quickly cuts the crud and didn't damage the aluminum. although it seems to contain 'sodium hydroxide' or caustic soda (also referred to as lye) so I'm not sure why this is considered safe for aluminum and easy off isn't... is it the 'other' chemicals in easy off and not the lye? any chemists please feel free to add to this... easy off says don't use on aluminum as it can pit and discolor it.. .but Carbon off says 'safe' to use on aluminum ?
finished them with a bit of rubbing compound and mother's aluminum polish on the outsides, boiled water (cream of tartar) for a bit in each to lighten up the insides.
The hammered roaster thing is kind of unusual... lid doubles as a serving platter/ carving board... aluminum trivet... the other one is a typical club aluminum piece.
https://imgur.com/a/NUovZT8
The aluminum cleaning section mentions using Dawn power dissolver... which it appears they sort of discontinued 4-5 years ago... at least it doesn't seem to be offered via normal retail channels any more... but amazon seems to have it for about $20 a bottle... there are some online sources that claim that you can make it yourself with some simple ingredients (TSP, borax, etc.) not sure about that.
The pieces that I was trying to clean were not smooth... both had a bit of texture to them, one was hammered, the other was more of a light dimpled texture and I was looking for a degreaser to remove some black gunk from the hammered piece. I saw some suggestions online of a product called Carbon Off that was safe for aluminum... I found some at a local restaurant supply shop for a bit over $20 for a spray can... not something I would want to use a lot, due to the price... but it seems to work as advertised... it quickly cuts the crud and didn't damage the aluminum. although it seems to contain 'sodium hydroxide' or caustic soda (also referred to as lye) so I'm not sure why this is considered safe for aluminum and easy off isn't... is it the 'other' chemicals in easy off and not the lye? any chemists please feel free to add to this... easy off says don't use on aluminum as it can pit and discolor it.. .but Carbon off says 'safe' to use on aluminum ?
finished them with a bit of rubbing compound and mother's aluminum polish on the outsides, boiled water (cream of tartar) for a bit in each to lighten up the insides.
The hammered roaster thing is kind of unusual... lid doubles as a serving platter/ carving board... aluminum trivet... the other one is a typical club aluminum piece.
https://imgur.com/a/NUovZT8