Polishing Clothes

[rslaymaker]

I just returned from the Vintage Trailer Rally... One of the presentations was on polishing your Airstream. Anyhow, the person mentioned that you could purchase rags pre cut to fit on your cyclo polisher. I thought he mentioned Vintage Trailer Supply as a place to get them and I checked their site without luck. Does anyone know where to get the clothes from?

[Melody Ranch]

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[FreshAir]

I got the polishing cloths from Perfect. They really do put on a mirror finish but I am not to that stage yet. I can't seem to get rid of the "tracks" that compounding with either the drill polisher or the Cyclo leaves ! Doin' sumtin wrong .
Neil

[azflycaster]

I found it a lot cheaper to buy my polishing cloths in bulk from a local fabric discount store, then cut them into the same dimensions as the ones from perfect polish.

Try using less polish to reduce the "tracts". You will be surprised how much a little goes.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

I found it a lot cheaper to buy my polishing cloths in bulk from a local fabric discount store, then cut them into the same dimensions as the ones from perfect polish.

Try using less polish to reduce the "tracts". You will be surprised how much a little goes.

Tried almost no polish and still am frustrated. We're busy traveling this summer so the polisher is back in it's box for now. At least I got much of the swirls out. They were bugging me.
Neil.

[ronstory]

OK... when I bought the AS last year, it showed up in my driveway and the really nice next door neighbors were not happy. If the AS were a K9... most folks would have assumed it had 'mange'. I then stripped it with an acid wash followed by DiamondBrite truckbox polish using a $29 Harbor Freight polisher. Now it looks good enough the nice next door neighbors were now saying "... it looks like it brand new".

My neighbor relations are now restored.

Yes, it still has some swirls but all and all it looks better most of the AS on the road today. So if you are reading this thread, don't get too wrapped up abound the Hesnchen axle and remember that "The perfect is the enemy of the good" While the prefect surface some of us strives for is wonderful and I appreciate the effort... 'good' is all that I can hope for....

[thatscool]

I bought a 31ft Land Yaght last year, I thought the trailer looked pretty good when I first saw it. Then I pulled it to the state campground and got a " there goes the neighborhood " look from the gate keeper. After I got it set up it did look grungy compared to all the new bright white campers.
This year I moved it to a permanent site at a campground close to home. I have begun to work on the windows to fix all leakes and new window seals....ect.
The reaction I got at the new site has been overwhelming, I bet 20 people have been over to check it out. Its been a great way to meet the neighbors.
Some areas were (and still are) so grungy that I had to take a wire brush to it. For 25.00 I bought a " powerball " and with some basic aluminum polish it has shined up alot. I am not looking for perfection, I just want it to look clean. I figure if I get the worst of the grunge off with the powerball I can go over it later and get a much better shine without spending a fortune on polish, polishers and rags. I did some lanscaping as well even though my site is just rented yearly. the owner of the campground is very pleased. I took the last site available, (which was also the least desirable) and made it into the best looking site at the campground.
Whats most important is that I am enjoying the camper, and getting a sense of accomplishment from my efforts...I am a Happy Camper.

[rslaymaker]

Thanks everyone... This really helps.

[FreshAir]

Originally Posted by ronstory

OK... when I bought the AS last year, it showed up in my driveway and the really nice next door neighbors were not happy. If the AS were a K9... most folks would have assumed it had 'mange'. I then stripped it with an acid wash followed by DiamondBrite truckbox polish using a $29 Harbor Freight polisher. Now it looks good enough the nice next door neighbors were now saying "... it looks like it brand new".

My neighbor relations are now restored.

Yes, it still has some swirls but all and all it looks better most of the AS on the road today. So if you are reading this thread, don't get too wrapped up abound the Hesnchen axle and remember that "The perfect is the enemy of the good" While the prefect surface some of us strives for is wonderful and I appreciate the effort... 'good' is all that I can hope for....

Shortly after we bought our Trade Wind my son-in-law and I were returning from an errand. As we decended our driveway and the Trade Wind came into view he commented, "Boy, that Airstream sure classes up this place!".....
Neil

[Bowmans]

I went the way Azflycaster went... We bought remnents of cotton T-shift cloth (making sure they were at least a suqare yard each) and used those with the cyclo on the finishing fine polish stages. We are getting neighbors stopping all the time now after we finished the endcap closest to the road saying it looks like new. It is great to see something 30 years old, with a little (lot actually) elbow grease, look like it came from the factory.