Polishing INTERIOR window frames

[adwriter73]

Has anyone with with interior painted aluminum window frames ever strip and polish them? I removed the paint, but can't seem to get them polished. Wondering if they will polish to a nice mirror finish or not.

[oleschool]

adwriter....my girl had spent some of her life at the beach and the frames were in bad shape so I stripped them and then sanded them, now they have a sanded texture finish..I like it better than the crusty paint they had before.....I dont think they are made from alclad alum. so I doubt you will get a mirror finish

[mello mike]

Originally Posted by oleschool

adwriter....my girl had spent some of her life at the beach and the frames were in bad shape so I stripped them and then sanded them, now they have a sanded texture finish..I like it better than the crusty paint they had before.....I dont think they are made from alclad alum. so I doubt you will get a mirror finish

I agree. Art (MaxAB) did this with his kitchen window frame and it looks great. I plan on doing the same since this appearance would look better in my stainless steel kitchen.

[airstreamjudy]

I did the same - sanded by hand with small pieces of sandpaper and then used some polish. Good results - not like mirror finish but clean looking.

[Bowmans]

Does anyone happen to have some photos of how the sanded frames turned out? I am still considering polishing or re-painting ours. I think the "brushed" look from sanding and some polish wouldn't look bad either but would love to see some done that way.

[larry b]

I sanded mine down this weekend and I agree it looks great. I also used pop rivet instead of the screws to attach to give it a little different look.

[safari62]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Does anyone happen to have some photos of how the sanded frames turned out? I am still considering polishing or re-painting ours. I think the "brushed" look from sanding and some polish wouldn't look bad either but would love to see some done that way.

This might be a case of the metal in earlier trailers having easier aluminum to polish.

My trailer was painted by hand with a lighter color house paint over the original zolatone and they took the time to goub it on heavy around the windows and hardware.

Since I had to strip the rest anyway we went at the window frames with ZIP STRIP, rubber glove, plastic scrapers. After the heavy layer is removed, then reapply coats of ZIP STRIP and use steel wool to remove piant. This takes three or four attempts.

I would not use sandpaper if you want it highly polished.

After that use some metal polish like Nuvite and cloth and they polish up nice by hand.

The window frame looks much nicer polished than painted and the closing hardware works better (at least on a 62')

[Bowmans]

Safari,
Thanks for the photos. Looking at what I wrote, I wasn't very clear putting the thoughts in my head into the post. Our window frames weren't painted. We used scotchbright on those like you did. In my head, I was thinking this thread was about the frames that hold the screen material that are on the inside. Ours came painted but I was thinking of stripping and polishing them. Here is a photo of them on the windows right before we towed her home (they came off right after hitting the driveway). I was hoping someone had tried it and was successful. In the photo, they are the flat pieces that are screwed to the window frame:

[Melody Ranch]

Probably not the same type...but may give you an idea.

[pinktrailer]

I used fine steel wool to clean up the inside window frames on the '67, and the inner part of my ceiling fans. I think I spent an entire day on each window when I first purchased the trailer.

A little polishing with the steel wool and "Mothers" every year keeps them shiny! The thought of the mess of using the compounder, etc. "inside" was just too much for me!!!

[ticki2]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Safari,
Thanks for the photos. Looking at what I wrote, I wasn't very clear putting the thoughts in my head into the post. Our window frames weren't painted. We used scotchbright on those like you did. In my head, I was thinking this thread was about the frames that hold the screen material that are on the inside. Ours came painted but I was thinking of stripping and polishing them. Here is a photo of them on the windows right before we towed her home (they came off right after hitting the driveway). I was hoping someone had tried it and was successful. In the photo, they are the flat pieces that are screwed to the window frame:

I'm thinking of the same thing , the paint is flaking . Who's going to go first? My thought is to use paint stipper with plastic scraper , then fine steel wool , then auto compound . I'm not looking for high polish , I think it would look out of place with the rest of the interior , just a smooth mill finish.

[adwriter73]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

Safari,
Thanks for the photos. Looking at what I wrote, I wasn't very clear putting the thoughts in my head into the post. Our window frames weren't painted. We used scotchbright on those like you did. In my head, I was thinking this thread was about the frames that hold the screen material that are on the inside. Ours came painted but I was thinking of stripping and polishing them. Here is a photo of them on the windows right before we towed her home (they came off right after hitting the driveway). I was hoping someone had tried it and was successful. In the photo, they are the flat pieces that are screwed to the window frame:

I wasn't clear on my original post either. I was referring to the frame holding the screen on. As you mention here. I've seen it polished to a chrome-like shine on a '78, but maybe it wasn't original. I'll find the pic.

[adwriter73]

I'm sure you've all seen pics from this amazing redo. But here is the best shot of the window frame (window screen housing) I could get....

[Bowmans]

wow Melody, I like the frames like that. Thanks for the picture too Adwriter. I am still debating if a high polish will look good with our theme. What do you all think? Here is a picture of the wall color (slightly off-white) and wood walls. There will be no door hardware on the cabinets or visible hinges. The curtains and couch cushions will be shades of blue, floor a grey/brown stone look:

[adwriter73]

Originally Posted by Bowmans

wow Melody, I like the frames like that. Thanks for the picture too Adwriter. I am still debating if a high polish will look good with our theme. What do you all think? Here is a picture of the wall color (slightly off-white) and wood walls. There will be no door hardware on the cabinets or visible hinges. The curtains and couch cushions will be shades of blue, floor a grey/brown stone look:

everything goes with polished frames : ) btw, i'm going to e-mail you later about your walls.

[erock53]

I didn't polish my window screens, but I did sand them. . I painted one of them with some silver paint and it looked good. I was setting up to paint the rest of them and decided to clean them first with some lacquer thinner. As soon as the thinner hit the paint, it dissolved the paint. I then had to sand them to get rid of the transition line from paint to metal. When I sanded them I noticed that they looked exactly like the painted silver one. So... I sanded all of them and did not paint anything. They are sanded with 320 grit with a orbital sander and they look great. I will be doing the same thing to the trim piece that goes around the smaller window.

[ticki2]

Looking good guys , guess I have another project.

[Safari 62]

I used a mouse sander with fine grade paper to get the corrosion and paint off. Nice and smooth now. (Worked quickly, so as not to overheat aluminum). I am going to paint the frames white to match the new storm windows and screens I picked up 2 days ago. Anyone have a suggestion on the best paint to use on aluminum frames? Linda

[mello mike]

Here's my sanded and slightly polished kitchen window frame. I'm pretty happy with the results.

[Safari 62]

Looks great. I got the first coat on. I used Home Depot All in One paint and it is nice.