I cannot believe I'm actually asking this as I sit nice and cosy in my tin tent with the rain hammering on our roof and windows on the third and final week of our summer hols in Cornwall but....
Hubby wants me to ask if anybody knows how we can tart up/refresh the chrome curved rail type things that hold stuff on the washroom shelves whilst in transit, (and all the time really). Ours have started to look really grotty with the top chrome flaking off showing a rust beneath.
Personally I suspect there'll be a lot of sanding down required for any tarting up/refreshing so he'll have to the be the one to do that as my arthritic mitts won't allow me enough pressure for the job
If only there was an easy way of removing them so that we could just buy new ones but looking at them......methinks it would involve somehow removing the entire shelving unit that seems to be stuck in fast when it was made!
I'm sure there must a coating/paint just for the job out there somewhere but have noooo idea what it's likely to be.
Looking forward, (REALLY????ON MY HOLS????), to any helpful suggestions so that it'll be a project we can get sorted once back home.
Try wetting some tin foil and using it like sand paper.
This is a great way to get rust out of chrome but if your chrome is actually coming away then it might be too far gone for this.
On my rusty old bike handlebars, I used Jenolite, available from a well-known motoring store, with scotchbrite or wire wool. Basically, it's phosphoric acid, and chemically removes the iron oxide. Used to get quite a lot of surface rust off, leaving slightly pitted chrome, and ready for Simoniz chrome polish.
Wash off residue with plain water, dry, and apply metal paint such as Hammerite in the finish of your choice if the shine is too far gone.
Just a thought, if its 18mm round rails, you could use silver radiator snaps,lightly glued in place, to improve appearance.
UPDATE: Jenolite video here - but also noticed other videos suggesting vinegar or Coca Cola. The latter also contains phosphoric acid!
Have you tried tin foil with coke or any cola drink, sounds daft but I tried it on my bike handle bars and apart from getting a bit sticky it seemed to work. But you do need the chrome to be there.
Many thanks for all your replies and suggestions peeps and apologies for not thanking you all sooner but it's been manic since we got home from Cornwall.
Unfortunately our chrome is too far gone, (only on the one curved rail oddly enough), for any of the easier repairs with the tin foil. BUT the idea of using coke or something similar, to first remove the rust that's there sounds like a winner and then finishing it off with Hammerite paint or something similar sounds like the way to go.
Mind you, that tip about the tin foil could prove useful for any future chrome issues. So, thank you all very much for your help.
You can always depend on good ole UKCS to come to your rescue
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Topic: Grotty chrome in washroom
