Chrome is the most important and eye-catching part of any type of vehicle whether present on bumpers, rims, etc it can be clearly seen and grabs attention.
As it grabs the attention it requires proper care and cleaning if you want your car to look new and charming.
There are some old as well as new cars on the road we see everyday having chrome bumpers, rims, etc which are rusted and not in good shape, if your car is among them don’t worry here we have gone through a lot of research work and experience from car guys to create a complete guide on how to restore chrome.
What is chrome and why does it get rusted?
Chrome is a shiny hard metal coating made of chromium. It is coated on metal to make it look shiny and charming.
Chrome does not get rusted easily if we took good care of it. But there are reasons for chrome rusting like scratches, dents, and damage of chrome which causes the metal underneath to come in contact with the atmosphere ( water, pollutants ) which causes the chrome to get rusted.
Restoring Chrome – The complete process
There are some tools to gather them first to lessen any inconvenience in the whole process.
The tools are as below,
- Car wash soap and mitts
- Chrome polish
- Polish OR wax applicators
- Microfiber towels
- Sandpaper OR wire brush
- Steel wool ( optional )
- Tape
Each of these products can be easily found in the market. If you want a recommendation then Topcarcareproducts has mentioned the best chrome polish along with their types and application of use which can come in handy for a car guy.
1. Start with washing a car
First of all find a place to park a car where there is no issue of drainage like in workshop OR out in the front of your house, Garage, etc
It’s time to give your baby a bath. For washing a car we can use any type of method like the 2 bucket method or simply by using a pressure washer along with a foam cannon gun to through some foam on car wash soap on the car.
There are some great car wash soaps like Meguiar’s Ultimate Wash & Wax, and Chemical Guys Mr. Pink Super Suds Car Wash Soap And Shampoo which would maintain the PH for your car and would be helpful in the next steps.
2. Drying and cleaning the loosened debris
Before starting with the main part of the process there are some steps to go through which will be beneficial in obtaining greater results.
After washing wipe off the extra water from the surface of the car with the microfiber towel and leave the car for 5 minutes in an open atmosphere after that take another clean microfiber towels to clean the loosened dirt and small pollutant particles present on the chrome areas of the car so, that they may not come in the contact while polishing it which may cause small scratches on the body of the chrome.
3. Tape off the surrounding areas
Tape off the areas near the chrome areas that we are going to work on. In this way, the chrome polish will not be able to touch the painted surface of the car.
As the chrome polish is made specifically for the chrome surface which is a metal coating and is hard, different in nature as compared to the other painted areas of the car
Tapping the areas will save other parts from any type of damage that may occur during the process.
4. Treat the rust
This step is for only those car guys who are dealing with the rust on the chrome as well.
Treating the rust starts with rubbing the chrome with sandpaper to remove rust present on the surface to make the surface smooth, clean, and free from rust OR corrosion.
After removing the rust paint the area to prevent it from getting rusted in the future.
We can use steel wool as well in case of treating rust but to keep in mind to apply less or very optimum pressure in the case of steel wool because at the end of the day it is metal on the metal
5. Rubbing with steel wool ( optional )
Before moving further to this step it is clearly stated by us that we do not recommend this step unless or until your chrome is in very bad condition and needs to make the surface smooth.
Make sure to apply very little to no pressure while rubbing it with the steel wool because at the end of the day it is metal on the metal and causes the surface to gain small scratches and fade out the surface by losing its shine.
6. Take your chrome polish out
Finally, it is time to take your bad dude out which is the most important thing in the whole process and yes that is chrome polish.
Take a wax OR polish applicator to apply some chrome polish on it and start applying it on the surface in a circular motion and start rubbing gently with optimum pressure and remove the polish with the clean microfiber towel.
7. Repeat until you get a better result
Repeat step 5 three to four times until or unless you get the desired result out on the chrome.
Applying the polish in a single go will not bring the result out for you as the chrome gets dirty and fades due to daily driving on the roads and pollutants and water droplets get attached to it resulting in leaving marks on the chrome.
Conclusion
Chrome does not require cleaning OR restoring more often as in the case of car detailing. But when you see the chrome on your car fading out and small scratches, it is time to go through the above-mentioned process.
There is no general rule of thumb and it depends on the area you are living in, weather, and atmosphere most probably But it is better to restore chrome on every fifth to sixth car detailing.