"Steve W." wrote in message
...
Steve B wrote:
I'm redoing my boat. It's aluminum hull, painted. The gunwales are
unpainted aluminum, and discolored by stain, oily handprints, and
oxidation. What is a good product/way to shine them up, and what's a good
product to protect them and keep them shiny without a lot of maintenance
labor?

Steve

Find a truck stop where they do truck washing/detailing. Grab some of the
stuff they use to "acid wash" the tanks and chrome. It will clean off most
of the crud that normal cleaners wont touch. Next get a cheap RA buffer
and a couple tubs of Mothers Mag and aluminum polish. Wear clothes that
you don't ever plan on keeping. Take the buffer and polish and go to town
on the hull. Mothers will polish the aluminum up to a mirror.

--
Steve W.

I've used that to clean the aluminum parts on my box truck. Stuff works
great, I also polished the corner pillars after cleaning them with aluminum
polish. It works much faster after using the acid wash. Only caveat is that
it removes the oxide layer, Mother's gives it some protection but limited.