A Quick Guide to Cleaning Aluminum
How to go about cleaning aluminum will depend on how you use the aluminum object. Obviously you cannot clean or preserve aluminum that you use to cook or eat with in the same way you would clean aluminum objects that are used as tools or for decorative purposes. For example, to keep aluminum clean that is not used for cooking or eating involves using a wax or lacquer to protect it from corrosion or weather damage.
Cleaning aluminum that is used for cooking can help to brighten it and give it a good shine. Certain acidic foods can dull this metal, such as tomatoes. One way to brighten up aluminum pans is by using a mixture of water and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar and boiling it for 10 minutes on the stove. To make extra use of the boiling vinegar water you can add any aluminum utensils that you have to the water and let them soak. This will help to bring back the brightness of the utensils.
Aluminum pans can also develop discoloration or stains on the outside; for cleaning aluminum pans on the outside use a silver polish, or some other type of non abrasive cleaner. If at all possible you will want to avoid using something like wool cleaning pads, as this will scratch the metal. In some cases there is no choice but to use some type of cleaning pad like this in order to remove burnt on grease or food; in this case it is more important that you get the food or grease off than to worry about a few scratches.
In some instances, the stains in the pan will be severe, such as when there is built up hard water deposits. When cleaning aluminum that has this problem, you will want to use the same technique of boiling water or vinegar, but let it stand for about an hour after you boil it for 10 minutes. If the hard water deposits are very bad, it may be necessary to repeat the process a number of times in order to remove the stains. Once you have successfully cleaned the pan of stains, rinse well with plain water to get the vinegar out of it.
If the problem is cooked on grease or food, the best thing to do is to fill the pan with hot water and let it stand for an hour or two; this will loosen up a lot of the cooked on food. Drain the water and use a wooden spoon to scrape off as much of the food or grease as possible. It is likely that you will then have to finish the job with a wool pad and soap.
When the aluminum is an outdoor surface, you will want to do what you can to clean it as soon as possible. Insects and tree sap can ruin aluminum surfaces, and this problem will get worse the longer that you let the sun bake the crud into it. Even when cleaning aluminum on outdoor objects you will want to test whatever detergent or solvent you are using to ensure that it will not damage the metal, before you try cleaning with it.
Never use baking soda or other alkaline type ingredients for cleaning aluminum, as this will likely discolor it even worse. Use vinegar or a mild detergent whenever possible, this will clean the metal without causing a lot of damage.
The best way to handle cleaning aluminum is to ensure that you keep up on it and clean it on a regular basis; this way it will never get so bad that the aluminum is ruined and permanently discolored.