Cleaning Chrome

[Trius]

I have an Olympus Auto Electroset apart right now, and I've cleaned and aligned the RF, straightened a bent aperture control pin, and am doing the rest of the cleaning.

The chrome on this camera isn't as luxurious as other cameras; not as fine as the 35 SP, and certainly not up to Leica standards.

That said, I'd really like to clean the well enough to get it as close to original as possible. What do you recommend? Besides the usual cleaning agents and degreasers, I've thought of Bon Ami (hasn't scratched yet!), the polish used for glasstop/flattop electric ranges, etc. Are there other suggestions?

Earl

 

[dadsm3]

My chrome plater (Four Star in Toronto) always suggests Twinkle.......

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Don't do the Bon Ami, it doesn't scratch, but it will polish. I did that on an old ql17 and I have a brighter spot in the middle of all it's nice satin chrome.

Greyhound Man once recommended toothpaste to me to avoid that problem.

Bob H

 

[kbg32]

Actually, if you go to an art supply store and get a kneaded eraser. They brighten up chrome quite nicely and don't leave eraser bits behind.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I hear that works for teeth too 😉

 

[Trius]

Wow, guys, that was fast! Toothpaste, baking soda and kneaded eraser it is. And damn, that camera will NEVER need a root canal!

 

[Ronald M]

Turtle wax chrome polish for automobiles

 

[Trius]

Thanks G'man and Ronald. I'll be careful, but if I go too far, it will be the only brass Electroset you'll likely ever see.

 

[refinder]

Toothpaste and a little baking soda mixed in. It will remove the grime and give a very nice gleam too. 🙂

i tried toothpaste on my Hi-Matic 9, it worked very nicely, i'm happy with the results, happily surprised too, thanks for the tip!

- refinder

 

[m.galimathias]

Aannddd up ...


Do you guys have any suggestions for cleaning the chrome finish on a Leica M4.
The camera is in a pristine shape, no scratches or dents, however, the chrome has become a bit dull - especially in comparison to an even older M3.

What I've heard so far / could gather via research:

- toothpaste (see above)
- Ballistol oil
- Lemon juice

Any suggestions are highly appreciated!

Thanks
m.galimathias

 

[NewSchoolAlum]

I second lemon juice.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Aannddd up ...

The camera is in a pristine shape, no scratches or dents, however, the chrome has become a bit dull - especially in comparison to an even older M3.

Older M3's - the double strokes and maybe later ones too - have a different type of chrome, more shiny, so you can't compare the chrome of an M4 with the chrome of an M3. The M4 is finished with dull chrome. Do not polish the chrome of a camera - only clean it with gasoline - if you don't want to lower the value of it.

Erik.

 

[p.giannakis]

If I can remove the part that needs cleaning, I put it in a bowl with warm soapy water and give it a good scrub with a toothbrush. If I cannot remove it, I use IPA and clean it with a cotton pad. For the leatherette I dilute the IPA (8ml of IPA with 2 ml of water).

 

[peterm1]

I frequently use two cleaners.

The first is something like a kitchen surface cleaner spray. A lot of the grunge on older and well used camera chrome is of course from hands etc. - an amalgam of of body oils and dust, dirt etc. which becomes ingrained and builds up in corners and crevices - exactly the kind of stuff surface spray is designed to dissolve and remove. Of course, I never spray this directly onto the camera - I just spray it lightly onto a soft polishing cloth and apply it with this. (A cotton bud works for tight corners). Just make sure not to get the cloth so wet that it runs into cracks and crevices in the camera. Surface application only!

The second is a kind of very, very, very mild metal polish called "Nevr-Dull". I comes in a tin full of cotton wadding which has been saturated with something that smells suspiciously of "Brasso" a liquid metal polish which has been around forever. This works when there is a faint touch of tarnish on the chrome which requires something other than surface spray to remove. I find it works pretty well though, being a mild and basically un-abrasive substance it can take some rubbing to get things right.

The key is do not use anything abrasive - satin chrome never looks right when rubbed with an abrasive. It becomes polished in a patchy kind of way and there is no rectifying this once the damage is done.

Eagle One Valvoline - Ashland 150ml Original Nevr-Dull Wadding Polish 1035605 : Amazon.com.au: Automotive

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Yes, Peter, Never-dull is a good start, but then one needs to get serious... steel wool, Brillow pad, sandpaper, blow torch, grinder, ballpeen hammer, pick ax, dynamite and nitroglycerin!

It's the pulp-fiction approach to chrome cleaning.

Just kidding!

Happy holidays,
Mike

 

[petronius]

Not to forget: William Gibsons advice ;-)

 

[x-ray]

Collectors of very valuable nickel plated guns and knives use Flitz or Mothers Mag Polish. Flitz is my choice and I’ve never had a problem. It’s non abrasive and is designed specifically for chrome and nickel. I have no experience with Mothers but know several collectors that swear by it.

Most collectors also apply a coating of museum wax like Renaissance Wax to protect the finish.