I am a contractor in the Northwest and during the winter months my diamond plate tool box really takes a beating. Soap and water aren't really great and I have bought diamond plate polish from the auto store but it takes forever and I usually need several bottles, then in a few weeks it looks crappy again. Any tricks of the trade out there? Thanks in advance.

 

A 9", 6000 rpm angle grinder with a buff pad and your polish paste would make quick work of it. That's about as close as you can get to a professional job without actually taking it to a pro. Moisten the buff pad with the paste and rub it in a bit because the velocity of the grinder will tend to fling it away. You can try putting small dots of polish on the diamond plate itself but it's probably better to put it on the pad. You can also 'work' the trigger to keep the rpm down a bit as 6000 rpm is a little fast; 3000 - 4000 is plenty if you can find a grinder in that range.

 

Thank you very much, I will give that a try.

 

try a product called 'da bom' we use in on motorcycles, fast easy. go to 'thebomguy.com' best stuff we've ever used.. Roland

 

Save your old buff pads and use them
on the diamond plate. Diamond plate
eats the pad quick.

 

i just wax mine when i do the truck

 

mothers chrome polish is the best i have found, leaves a mirror finish

 

Thank you all very much!!

 

Use the old NAVY standard, BUG JUICE (unsweetened Koolaid the cheaper the better and the cherry works best)and a powered scrub brush. We would sprinkle the powder on the plate wet it a litlle to make it liquid and scrub away. We did this on diamond deck plates in the engine rooms on the des******s using a buffer and all of them shined almost to mirror finish. You can then just wax it to protect it. You can also use real lemon or one of the other lemon juice concentrates. Citric acid is the active ingredient that helps to clean. Just rinse it well anddry it off to to keep from spotting. As long as it doesn't stay on the paint for hours it wont hurt the paint.

 

Napa sells aluminum brightener in spray bottles and gallon jugs you might want to take it out of the truck first as I dont know if its any good for the paintjob it is an acid cleaner and will REALLY clean it then try Never-Dull it is kinda like a giant cotton ball/gauze (sp) that is saturated with something that polishes aluminum like a ****

 

I know this may be too late.... but go to Lowes. In the section where they sell truck boxes, look for a polish called Diamond Brite. It works awesome. We use it on our firetruck and believe me thats alot of diamond plate. Good luck!!

 

Regular coke or mountain Dew works awesome. All the acid and carbonation just peel the oxidation right off. I use it on my diamond plated toolbox. Soak a sponge in MD then wipe your diamond plate and let the MD sit for about 2 minuites then rinse off with water and dry.

 

Since there is always a supply of coke in the house I will try that first. Next time it is off the truck I will try the brightener from Napa. thanks guys

 

I know this is an old tread, but I work at a gym and we have aluminum diamond plating going all the way around the bottom of the walls. Its oxidized and covered in dried sweat. Will the techniques listed above work for this also? The sweat is caked on in some spots and it wouldn't surprise me if it was 1/8" thick in some of those places. I've tried all the cleaners we have here (pine sol, bleach, amonia, LA's Awesome Cleaner, etc...), including a generic stainless steel cleaner, and nothing seems to work.Thanks in advance.

 

I dont think its as fast as they claim