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fingerprints & drool x 30 years vs. Black Anodized Aluminum

davstev

davstev

Well-Known Member
What's the best way to safely clean the black anodized aluminum surface of this lovely AU-6600 that I picked up recently? It absolutely shines, except for the fingerprints around the knobs. I have obviously tried warm water/soft cloth and even a bit of dish detergent. Nothing really takes it off, but the rest of the face is glistening clean. Human finger oils and 40+ years' time is really hard to get rid of...!

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I quite often use 'window cleaner', the clear liquid kind that you spray with a finger trigger bottle - works well for me. ;)
 
I use this to clean polish & protect chrome, aluminum plastic the knobs..rub with a piece till clean then buff with a microfiber cloth wait a while and after a white hazy film develops then buff that off..its the best..trust me..made the AU-717 look spectacular..wont damage lettering or any surface..got it at Walmart IMG_1527.JPG
 
Try a glass cleaner that doesn't have any Ammonia in it, like Sprayway.

Yeah, it's a foaming aerosol Spray, pretty inexpensive, but can be first sprayed onto a towel. Has very good cleaning abilities, and can be often found at wally world or home depot. Comes in a tall White-Blue Can.

The rest can be used around the house, or vehicle. Safe for tinted glass.
 
This is one of those things that's much easier to make worse than better, proceed with extreme caution.
You was to clean what can come off without changing the appearance of the areas affected by contrast with the rest of the panel.
No abrasives, no polish.
 
I agree - easy to make this worse.
I've landed on Meguiars Black Wax. I've used it with success on both silver and black alum. I sometimes have to wax 3-4 times to get it "smoothed" out - but that method does go very slow, and will not usually remove the clearcoat (yes, I think most all these faceplates have some kind of coating over them).
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Pio1980 said:
No abrasives, no polish.
Click to expand...
Quite so, this isn't like a car body - no matter how well a suggested polishing cleaner works. You have to remember that there is printing on the panel, so if the polishing action damages the surface, corrective action is much more serious than a re-spray would be for a car for example. The original surface is very difficult to reproduce..... and then there is the printing.
 
Note that the wax I posted has isn't a polisher\restorer at all. Simply a wax. Heh, I feel sometimes it's just the multiple wipes that cleans it all up, and no so much the wax itself.
I have used a very small amount of polishing compound on bad faceplates - it worked OK (not great because I was so careful).
I've never damaged lettering so far.
 
Thanks everyone for the input and ideas. The area that I am concerned with, as you can see in the pics, is really localized. It's mostly around the knobs, in the black area, nothing to do with lettering.

All of these are possibly good suggestions but I fear making it worse with anything like a polish. I feel like magic eraser might be the least invasive first attempt. If it doesn't work, then I will look into other options. If there's an inconspicuous area (like behind a knob), where I can test the faceplate's reaction before I go further, I'll likely do that. Will investigate that tonight. I'll consider all of your replies a bit more here now....
 
Hyperion said:
I quite often use 'window cleaner', the clear liquid kind that you spray with a finger trigger bottle - works well for me. ;)
Click to expand...

I would consider a "windex" type spray, but I would be really wary of using anything with ammonia in it. Would test an inconspicuous area first!
 
144F5CFC-3D44-4A17-AF06-80D987AD431F.jpeg 190BE685-5EE1-4A74-9610-5E601281EF8E.jpeg I don’t like giving advice too much about this kind of stuff for fear of giving bad or wrong advice.
I have used WD-40 on these two amps w/great success. It’s also a corrosion prohibitive as well and leaves a very nice “film” that will evaporate in time.
My experience only. Proceed w-caution!
 
humor me.. try it..it is not made to buff yer car..first time I heard of this product was when I worked at a music store..it cleaned chrome on hardware & snare drums..but I have used it to polish frets on guitars after re-fretting & it will not rub off the printing or danage the finish..if I used it on a 59 telecaster I own then I trust it..my vintage music gear dwarfs my stereo collection..by tens of thousands..not to mention my Library of Vintage Films..Screen Shot 2020-02-17 at 4.58.22 AM.png but I will just move on back to my real hobby..here is one of my new toys..Film preservation & restoration
 
even though I have a video of Joe Walsh using WD-40 on a vintage Les Paul to refresh the pots I would avoid using it except maybe on a car or squeaky door..
 
^ This subject was brought up years back and that is what I was told to try. Worked for my application w/zero side affects. As I said earlier, my experience only. To each his own.

Good luck to the OP.
 
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