# What are your secrets for making that diamondplate shine?



## freia (Nov 3, 2011)

I'm going to give my new (used) trailer a really good detailing job this weekend. It will likely be the first detailing job this trailer has ever seen (and knowing me, might also be its last).

It has aluminum diamondplate around the nose and on the fenders.

Does anyone have a great way to make the diamondplate shine again? Without making my arms fall off?

I've been told Mother's aluminum polish works, but the amount of elbow-grease required with it seems a bit daunting.


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## PrivatePilot (Dec 7, 2009)

A buffer machine with whatever paste/liquid works will take the elbow grease out, but really, polishing anything usually requires some anyways.

I swear by this stuff:










I've used it for years and it'll polish aluminum to a mirror finish. Its firmly in the elbow-grease camp though, although you'll likely be amazed at the results unless the aluminum is oxidized extremely heavily at which point you may need to strip the oxidization off before starting polishing.


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## kimberlyrae1993 (Mar 20, 2013)

Get the mothers ball!! It attaches to a power drill.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## freia (Nov 3, 2011)

All righty. Had a go at it today. I voted down the Mother's (sorry Kinberly) after having tried that last week and having my arms fall off. I went to the local O'Reilly to get some of the Never-Dull, when the over-excited employeee there insisted that I try this stuff. since he was bouncing up and down with big happy eyes that reminded me of my Lab when he sees me grab the Chuck-it, I figured I may as well be a good sport.

White Diamond 00001 - Metal Polish | O'Reilly Auto Parts

So the verdict so far:

I squirt some on the diamondplate (about a 1sqft section at a time) and rub around and swirl about with an old rag, until the goop turns black. This takes about 1 minute. Then I let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. Then I wipe it off with a fresh rag. Then I grab my handy dandy palm-sander (I'm a woodworker, not a machinist). I cut several sections of rags to fit the sander. I put a clean rag in the sander and give the diamondplate section a good whirl in all directions. Ta-Da! Looks mighty fine so far. this is going to eat up a lot of rags. Luckily, I have a barrel full of them. I've only done 2 sqft as a test and to work the bugs out of my palm-sander modification, but considering that that section only took me 10 minutes, I think I'm going to have a go at it. And it smells like vanilla. I'm such a girl. If it doesn't hold up, I'm heading back for the Never-Dull.

A friend of mine told me today that Diamond-Brite's Truck-Box polish also works very well. I can only find it at Lowe's, and I don't like Lowe's, so I'm sticking with what I have here for now.


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