How To Remove Water Spots From Polished Aluminum

How to deal with mineral deposits on an aluminum shower door

A reader wants to remove the mineral deposits on this shower door. (Reader photo)

Q: We have a walk-in shower, and over the years, the lime and calcium deposits take built upward to the bespeak where I can't get them off with the commercial products I've tried. Is in that location a solution?

Fairfax Station

A: Judging from the pictures you sent, your shower doors appear to be framed in anodized aluminum, which can be colored many shades, including gold. Unfortunately, the mineral deposits appear to be mostly on the frames, the most problematic surface.

Cleaners that deliquesce mineral spirits, such every bit vinegar, lemon juice and products such as CLR and Lime-A-Way, are all acids. To piece of work, they need to be at the opposite end of the pH calibration from mineral deposits, which are alkaline. But acids of all sorts eat into aluminum. That's true even for anodized aluminum, which has been electrochemically treated to be more than corrosion-resistant. So you lot can't apply an acidic cleaner, or you lot volition current of air up with pitted metal.

"Our product is fine on the glass but not on the frame," said Chloe Sanders, office manager for Jelmar, the visitor in Skokie, Ill., that makes CLR. CLR is often touted as a style to remove mineral deposits from shower heads, only that apply is okay only if the heads are plastic or chrome, she said. "We say non to utilise information technology if the showerhead is a different material."

Mineral deposits on a reader's shower door. (Reader photo)

Probably the only thing you lot can do, short of replacing the doors, is to scrub or scrape off the deposits. "Try a razor scraper or a soft scrubber. Get creative," suggests Scott Gilmour, owner of York Belongings (yorkproperty.com), a company based in Bethlehem, Pa., that removes mineral deposits and other crud from surfaces as big as skyscrapers. On anodized aluminum, his visitor always uses abrasives, never chemicals. "Chemicals would burn it," he said.

I take a big set of Lenox Chinastone dishes that I received as a wedding gift in 1986 — xviii place settings and serving pieces for our big family. I have used the dishes daily and for entertaining, and I continue to enjoy the design. However, the finish on several plates and teacups has dulled to the point that I no longer feel comfortable using them for entertaining. Is there a glaze or wipe-on product that would bring back the luster?

Bethesda

Sherri Crisenbery, vice president for the Lenox make, said she knows of no wipe-on replacement glaze. Only she did suggest polishing with Bon Ami or using a cleaner made for drinking glass cooktops. "That may help," she said, just she added that she doubts it would exercise enough to brand your pieces await new.

Crisenbery said that in 17 years with Lenox, she has never seen the extent of damage shown in the pictures you sent. "Information technology shouldn't have happened," she said. Dishwasher detergents in the 1980s were harsher than the ones sold today, and then maybe that, in combination with hard water from your taps, caused the problems, she said.

Lenox replaces pieces without charge if there is a manufacturing defect, such as a missing part of the pattern. It also offers a lifetime warranty against breakage, which results in the company paying half the cost of replacement pieces. Your pieces didn't accept a defect and didn't break, so these policies don't apply. "But we always try to work with the customer," Crisenbery said. She suggested calling to meet whether the company would be willing to aid pay to supercede the pieces that expect worst. Or you lot might just desire to buy new dishware. "Afterward 30 years, she deserves a new set," Crisenbery said. "Nosotros don't keep our cars for 30 years."

A reader's Lenox Chinastone dishes have been used daily, dulling over the years. The reader wants to bring back the cathay'due south luster. (Reader photo)

If you opt for replacements, be forewarned that yous may non exist able to get pieces that match exactly. Lenox used to have two factories in the United States that manufactured dinnerware. Every bit toll competition ate into the market for U.S.-fabricated products, the company decided to close one of the factories. The one that made Chinastone (ivory china with aluminum oxide added) was older, and so it closed, leaving simply the manufactory that works with os mainland china. Lenox besides sells dinnerware made of porcelain and stoneware, but those products are imported.

If you do want replacements, Crisenbery recommends shopping at Replacements (replacements.com). Lenox sells directly to Replacements and has even put discontinued styles dorsum into product when the company reports brisk orders for styles no longer bachelor. If an exact replacement isn't available, perhaps yous tin can find something that's close enough. The website offers a costless pattern identification service to people who make full out a grade and adhere 1 or more pictures.

Have a trouble in your habitation? Send questions to localliving@washpost.com . Put "How To" in the subject area line, tell u.s. where you live and try to include a photo.

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Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/home/how-to-deal-with-mineral-deposits-on-an-aluminum-shower-door/2016/03/04/c715c230-dca8-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html

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