Does anyone know of a good (easier) way to clean life lines and the associated fittings instead of a paste type of polish? I was thinking maybe mixing an oxalic mixture in a spray bottle and some light scrubbing with a toothbrush may work.
TIA 
And how exactly would that be any easier if it still requires scrubbing ? At least with the paste you can use a buff wheel & cordless tool to do most of the work .
How about changing the lifelines to dyneema rope then you'd only have the fitting to clean ? 
I use the Bondall brick cleaner (HCl) that Bunnings sell for about $15 for 5l, just put a little on a rag and wipe the fitting, then a few minutes later wash off with plenty of fresh water. Works well. Wear gloves and eye protection when using though.
Note this stuff eats bungee cord, so be judicious if you have deck tiedowns etc.
Select to expand quoteHarb said..
And how exactly would that be any easier if it still requires scrubbing ? At least with the paste you can use a buff wheel & cordless tool to do most of the work .
How about changing the lifelines to dyneema rope then you'd only have the fitting to clean ?
It's not so much the scrubbing, it is the polish I find a PIA.
Thanks sydchris. With both being an acid the oxalic might work, otherwise I will try the HCI.
Select to expand quoteToph said..Harb said..
And how exactly would that be any easier if it still requires scrubbing ? At least with the paste you can use a buff wheel & cordless tool to do most of the work .
How about changing the lifelines to dyneema rope then you'd only have the fitting to clean ?
It's not so much the scrubbing, it is the polish I find a PIA.
Thanks sydchris. With both being an acid the oxalic might work, otherwise I will try the HCI.
I used the Diggers rust and stain remover (100% oxalic) to remove the scum on the bootline with and old broom ,easy.
BUT it warns on the label " not for metal surfaces"
Spotless Stainless for the fiddly bits
spotlessstainless.com
Purple polish for the easy bits
www.autobarn.com.au/california-custom-original-purple-metal-polish-355ml
Select to expand quoteToph said..Harb said..
And how exactly would that be any easier if it still requires scrubbing ? At least with the paste you can use a buff wheel & cordless tool to do most of the work .
How about changing the lifelines to dyneema rope then you'd only have the fitting to clean ?
It's not so much the scrubbing, it is the polish I find a PIA.
Thanks sydchris. With both being an acid the oxalic might work, otherwise I will try the HCI.
Avoid the HCl, it may cause pitting and crevice corrosion
Go with Free Radicals suggestions or try a citric acid based descaler like used in the catering business for cleaning s/steel equipment and coffee machines
www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=30
Hydrochloric Acid [ spirits of salts ] [ brick cleaner ] would not put this within 10 foot of my boat
Metal Gleam is the first choice or an oxalic deck clean mix from Bunnings. Both about the same price. Mix with warm fresh water as per directions and slop over the whole boat with a soft broom. Leave for a couple of minutes and rinse off. Etches aluminum slightly.
Id like to give the Metal Gleam and the Spotless Stainless a try.
Ramona, do you buy Metal Gleam direct from Nowra Chem?
And FreeRadical, I haven't seen Spotless Stainless since I was in the UK. Is there someone in OZ that carries it, or is it an Ebay thing?
Cheers,
SB
Thanks for the ideas. I will probably try the Autobarns Purple polish for the easy to get to bits and pieces. Most of the marine store polishes I've tried have left me uninspired.
The Spotless Stainless looks the goods too. But at nearly 100 bucks a pint (shipped from the USA) it would want to live up to the testimonials and some 
A few years since I bought spotless, pretty sure it was through the link on this page, not sure if they still do it. Can't remember how much it was, but I wouldn't have paid $100 for it.
www.mysailing.com.au/news/spotless-makes-stainless-steel-sparkle
Select to expand quoteshaggybaxter said..
Id like to give the Metal Gleam and the Spotless Stainless a try.
Ramona, do you buy Metal Gleam direct from Nowra Chem?
And FreeRadical, I haven't seen Spotless Stainless since I was in the UK. Is there someone in OZ that carries it, or is it an Ebay thing?
Cheers,
SB
I just drive out to the factory. 5 litres is about $35 and lasts a fair while. I used to buy the 20 litre containers but the new large size is 15. I used the same product to descale my engine a few months back.
www.nowchem.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Metal-Gleam.pdf
Select to expand quotejacktheflyer said..
This is just phosphoric acid
actually Metal Gleam is primarily phosphoric acid, plus nonylphenol ethoxylate as a surfactant. it's worth noting that nonylphenol ethoxylate is considered toxic and is banned in many countries...
nowchem.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Metal-Gleam.pdf
So does this mean the cheapest and simplist solution is to get a bottle of Septone phosphoric from Auto barn or is it not strong enough??
Select to expand quotecisco said..
So does this mean the cheapest and simplist solution is to get a bottle of Septone phosphoric from Auto barn or is it not strong enough??
No, it means the cheapest and simplest solution is to keep on top of the job in the first place... Something I neglected to do 
Just after i bought my boat an engineer mate of mine cleaned my stainless rigging wire and fittings with a machine that supplied a current to a solution wiped on the wire with a scrubbing tool.
Sorry i'm a bit vague on the details but it worked a treat!
This is it:
Select to expand quotecisco said..
So does this mean the cheapest and simplist solution is to get a bottle of Septone phosphoric from Auto barn or is it not strong enough??
Is in the same category 30-60% Phosphoric but doesn't have the surficant. I have used dishwashing detergent as a surficant with weedkiller. Might be worth a try.
Bondall Ranex Rust Buster is approx 30% Phosphoric Acid. It's not too aggressive on stainless but does the job, just needs a little time to work and rubbing with a maroon scotch bite pad will help release the staining much faster.
Probably worth avoiding letting it run all over your boat, rinse with plenty of fresh water, and wear gloves as once you feel it start to burn it's too late to think about the gloves :-) Protect your eyes !
Tig brushes work but burn through brush tips, and are not as fast.
The Australian Stainless Steel Development Association publishes some good material cleaning, pickling and passivation of s/s.
For consideration:
1) It's called stainLESS steel for a reason.
2) Not much wire is made from polished strand, which prevents corrosion better.
3) Most wire is low grade 316, meaning the Nickle, Moly and Chrome are in the low side of the spectrum. These are the elements that help resist surface corrosion.
4) Often the staining is caused by airborne pollution that's trapped in the crevices of the wire, this is often the cause of the staining.
Hope that's of some use to someone.. :-)
warm or soap water dip with crumpled up aluminium foil (from the grocery store)
works great even on chrome, but caution of advice, will create micro scratches - but for wires is brilliant
try it, it's cheap and works
Select to expand quoteKempie said..
Bondall Ranex Rust Buster is approx 30% Phosphoric Acid. It's not too aggressive on stainless but does the job, just needs a little time to work and rubbing with a maroon scotch bite pad will help release the staining much faster.
Probably worth avoiding letting it run all over your boat, rinse with plenty of fresh water, and wear gloves as once you feel it start to burn it's too late to think about the gloves :-) Protect your eyes !
Tig brushes work but burn through brush tips, and are not as fast.
The Australian Stainless Steel Development Association publishes some good material cleaning, pickling and passivation of s/s.
For consideration:
1) It's called stainLESS steel for a reason.
2) Not much wire is made from polished strand, which prevents corrosion better.
3) Most wire is low grade 316, meaning the Nickle, Moly and Chrome are in the low side of the spectrum. These are the elements that help resist surface corrosion.
4) Often the staining is caused by airborne pollution that's trapped in the crevices of the wire, this is often the cause of the staining.
Hope that's of some use to someone.. :-)
Thanks for that.
Select to expand quoteGuitz said..
Brilliant Guitz - ingenious solution!
So impressed by your TIG work too.
regards,
allan
Hi guys,
I have been getting more and more into this laser cleaning of late that Jolene posted about.
I am doing the numbers on the commercial viability of an on-site cleaning service. The concept would be to offer a call out service where you clean all the stainless fittings on a yacht at the dock or hardstand. So everything from stanchions/lifelines/padeyes/winches etc in one visit.
Is this something that as a boat owner you would spend money on?
The problem is the purchase cost is way up there, you don't get much change out of $100K for 1 x portable setup, so looking at the numbers you would need to be charging a few hundred dollars per boat. I was thinking of an annual clean, I don't think I'd do more than one a year on my boat.
My question is; as boat owners would this be something you would spend money getting done? Say once a year?
I appreciate any feedback gents. It appeals to me as I work with lasers and I understand how it works, you could even clean lead pencil of a piece of paper if you wanted to.
Good idea? Bad idea? Would you spend a few hundred dollars getting all your stainless nice and shiny, or prefer to do it yourself?
Thanks in advance!
SB
^^^
Wow,,,, having just sold a business and now technically unemployed, I was only just discussing with the missus last night about the possibilities of this laser to see us into retirement.. will follow this thread with great interest.
Shaggy, I reckon you will get a 50/50 response of opinions on that one.
For me, would pay to get it done if it remained in the $100's but would probably do it myself if it was north of $1000, and would used it as part of a yearly maintenance schedule.
Being young enough with a good income and a young busy family, I don't want to spend my sailing time doing a deep clean like this.
A thumbs up for your idea, but unfortunately your in the wrong state for me 
