Cleaning plated pieces after lye bath

JonnyK

New member
I've just started getting some nickel and chrome plated pieces in my collection...

Once the lye removes the decades of CRUD, how do I clean/polish before seasoning?
 
A lot will depend on the condition of the plating. If it's in good shape under the crud, it won't take much beyond a non-scratching pad of some sort. If it's flaked or worn off in spots, there isn't much you can do but season the bare places along with whatever parts weren't originally plated. I wouldn't try to make seasoning stick to the plated areas, part of the original reason for nickel or chrome was corrosion resistance and making seasoning unnecessary.
 
Plating seems in good shape, so I guess I'll start polishing...what kind of non-scratch pad do you recommend?
 
A stainless steel Chore Boy shouldn't hurt it, unless you get really crazy on it. I've used one of those coarse Scotch pads on nickel without any apparent problem, too.

My experience has been, for the most part, that the highly-polished plated parts don't really dull down, and the satin or matte finish areas usually only need burnt-on organics cleaned off.

I guess I'm saying if a highly-polished plated finish is compromised enough to look dull, its restoration is probably not within the scope of manual cleaning and polishing.

Maybe post some photos after it comes out of the lye, but before proceeding further.
 
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