GL: Cleaning SS

[Margery Griffith]

I have tried several things highly recommended to clean SS in saltwater. First
was the wadding stuff which does the job but with a lot of effort and seems to
me, a waste of material. It smells heavily of mineral spirits. (It's also good
for polishing silver!) but my favorite is MOTHER'S Stainless steel cleaner.
They make several products and I don't think there's much difference between
them: chrome, SS and probably others. It is a liquid and goes on much more
easily than the wadded stuff. Smells nicer too! My Baltimore captain uses it
exclusively. I also use that to polish silver. You buff it but do not wash it
as it leaves a protective residue. I am an artist and have done a lot of
etching, some with nitric acid. I know how to use it but would never recommend
it to anyone who has never used it...it's NASTY stuff! It's also hard to get
rid of when no longer needed! For heaven sake do not use it straight! Know how
to dilute it or you're in big doo-doo! I would be very
 concerned about 'other things it touches' since you do not add water to acid,
you add acid to the water! Hosing it off could be a problem! A friend who is a
metalsmith (artist) told me how to protect his work (brass and silver) by
polishing then using Butcher's wax to protect it from the elements. Luc kily
the quality of the SS on both my boats is good, but the quality on the Linssen
is FAR superior to that on the Nordhavn. The other solution...move to
freshwater and you'll solve a LOT of problems!
Marge Griffith
Cinderella
Linssen GS 410