Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Mobiloil Gargoyle Before, MobilGargoyle After.....

First, this is a porcelain sign so this process works well for me. I would never do this with painted steel or tin. I knew this would clean up well just by looking at it. The colors were still bright and the surface was not oxidized or faded.

It was very dirty. The back side looked like it was just sitting in dirt.

Started off by washing with hot soapy water (Dawn) to get surface dirt off.

Then used hot soapy water, Bartenders Friend, and a Scotch Blue Sponge/Scrubby. Went over the entire sign with the scrubby getting rid of stains and rust. Use the Bartender's Friend pretty liberally and keep rinsing out the sponge. I changed the water quite a bit as it got dirty.

After that wet sanded with 800 grit wet/dry automotive sand paper and hot soapy water. That cleaned up the fine rust stains and grime. Really works well along edges and grommets. Keep the sign soapy and fairly wet.

Then wet sanded with 1000 grit paper and hot soapy water.

Polished with a blue pad and varible speed drill. I use Norton Liquid Ice one step polish. Awesome stuff. Then hand buffed with a towel. Then final polish with a fine pad. I get this at a automotive paint supply store that carries Norton products. I use it on everything. I have mini pads with a velcro backing. About 3 inch diameter. Again, these are available at a automotive supply store.

Final wax with Meguiar's Gold Class wax, and your porcelain feels smooth as glass.

I did it on the kitchen counter, had towels underneath it and was close to the sink (the wife don't care). Once set up it took about an hour to get these results.