Aluminum fading. What do you use on it?

Dave,

I think most would agree Flitz or Never Dull is the de facto standard. On small parts, they yield fast results, but for a whole tower, you’ll need to buy a lot of friends… a lot of beers. There’s a host of waxes on the market, each claiming to last longer then the next, but the reality is… they will all fall victim to time. BTW, Flitz works great on Eisenglass.

I know some car guys that swear by Zoop Seal to protect aluminum, but I think the longest lasting answer is to paint with clear polyurethane. A few years ago, I met with a gentleman who formulated a polymer that etched itself to alloy, literally bonding with the metal. The preparation work was pretty intense, but the end product was a protective lifetime shine, or at least that was the claim. I never followed up on this, so I can’t vouch. Wish I could remember the name of the product now. There are more than a few people here that could benefit.

I like the idea of WD-40 because it's petroleum based and therefore helps protect the metal against corrosion, but when it rains... it runs... all over your deck.

Maybe some of “crew” members can chime-in on this?

So far I have found that Never Dull works the best. I have heard there is a 3M product that is suppose to be good as well.

Is it bare aluminium ? My parents had aluminium storm doors and I have a cleaner,some sort of acid I think, that works super. I put rubber gloves on and just wet a scrub brush (to get the dirt out of the cracks) and in 15 min they looked like new. you can just spray it on if you want. I will find out tomorrow what it is since My memory has again failed me.

That urathane trick is ok until it starts to crack and peel then you got a mess. This cleaner is a wipe on let sit for ten min. then hose off and aluminium looks like new.

There is a non-caustic Aluminium wheel cleaner/polish surface deoxidant that the car detailers use. They then apply some sort of sealant that lasts the better part of the year. I don't know the brand of these products but I'm sure any local auto detailer that takes care of any of the Italian makes can steer you in the right direction. Or just look for anything with clean Cromodora wheels and a happy driver and ask him.

Yep, I've heard Woody Wax repeatedly, but ultimately it's still wax, which means... wax-on / wax-off... repeat as needed or until you slip and fall off the tower swearing to never wax again. This is why I suggested a polyurethane sealent, but as mentioned, this could crack & peel over time. Still, there are some polyurethanes that are extremely resilient to UV, such as PPG Durethane. Great stuff, but use a respirator in a well ventilated area. (Like a tuna tower isn't a well ventilated area? Duh!)