I read on another thread that simple Green and hot water is a good way to clean aluminum. Is that the way to go at home without a pressure washer etc.?
I read on another thread that simple Green and hot water is a good way to clean aluminum. Is that the way to go at home without a pressure washer etc.?
I clean aluminum parts with aluminum-colored spray paint. 
phosphoric acid for aluminum cleaning
Go to your local home improvement/supply store and look for a cleaner containing the above acid. You may find in in the section where they sell products to clean concrete. There are other uses for it as well. Cost should be from $12-15 per gallon. You mix water with it at about a 3 or 4:1 ratio of water to acid. It will remove rust from steel and clean aluminum to near like new condition. You can leave the aluminum in the solution for hours at a time without hurting it.
Simple Green and a scrub brush does a pretty good job, but if they're still dirty get some heavy duty aluminum wheel cleaner. Look for the stuff that says, "not for clear coated wheels" on the bottle.
im gonna try the dishwasher method myself, im hoping it works for both grease and cleaning aluminum.
Andrew
From my AL baking sheets, etc., in the dishwasher you'll get clean of grease but the detergent will stain/discolor the aluminum.
I thought simple green stained aluminum?
My buddy bought a 944 shell, and while swapping parts to his current 944 we took the time to clean everything off.
We pulled over 1lb of road grime off the transaxel alone. We cleaned all the parts with solvent concentrate from Harbor Freight. We bought a big bottle meant to be diluted and used in solvent tanks, and filled up spray bottles with it, then used wire brushes to scrub. Parts came out looking brand new.
Tyler H wrote: I clean aluminum parts with aluminum-colored spray paint.
haha, I use flat black, and leave them on the car.
pigeon wrote: I thought simple green stained aluminum?
I've never had a problem with it. Maybe if you left the aluminum part soaking in Simple Green for a long time, but I spray it on, scrub, and then rinse it off.
jimbbski wrote: phosphoric acid for aluminum cleaning Go to your local home improvement/supply store and look for a cleaner containing the above acid. You may find in in the section where they sell products to clean concrete. There are other uses for it as well. Cost should be from $12-15 per gallon. You mix water with it at about a 3 or 4:1 ratio of water to acid. It will remove rust from steel and clean aluminum to near like new condition. You can leave the aluminum in the solution for hours at a time without hurting it.
just make sure you add acid to water, not the other way around. If the acid reacts to the water and theres more acid than water, look out, you will likely die. If tyou add acid to water, since theres water than acid as you mix the solution, any reaction will be minimized by the fact that the solution will be mostly inert water
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