Cleaning Tin Signs-Heres How! - Fri May 18 2012 12:42 AM
I've had a couple of calls lately, pretaining to sign cleaning and asking just how I do the ones that I have cleaned.
I use a product called "Mothers Mag & Wheel Polish" and its in a simple to use paste form. Now with "ANY" sign, you should take everyones advice and start in a small obscure corner to test it out first! I use a soft paper shop towel and simply apply with a lot of elbow grease. Do a small foot square area and then wipe off and move on.
The attached pictures show a painted tin sign that I did tonight and the first picture shows 3 areas where I applied the Mothers and rubbed long enough to clean the spot. Upper right corner--lower right corner and the letter "N" on the left were the small areas I used to demonstrate the before and after effects. This was real tough sooty like grime from years of sitting in an old gas station and it doesn't come off easily. Soap and water wouldn't do it.
The second picture shows the finished sign and the third picture is a pic of the product.
Now I'm not saying that this is the perfect answer but I've used it for several years and it works pretty darn good. You do have to be careful on very weak paint on oil cans as it will remove the very weak paints and ruin your can. It doesn't just wipe the paint off but hard rubbing on weak paint will lighten it considerably and you don't want that.
Where this product really shines, is on porcelain signs and I use a drill operated "Powerball" made by the same company, to cover large areas faster. The powerball really helps when you're going after those stubborn rubber skid marks. They take a while.
Well, good luck and I hope this helps someone!---Thanks--KEVIN
I use a product called "Mothers Mag & Wheel Polish" and its in a simple to use paste form. Now with "ANY" sign, you should take everyones advice and start in a small obscure corner to test it out first! I use a soft paper shop towel and simply apply with a lot of elbow grease. Do a small foot square area and then wipe off and move on.
The attached pictures show a painted tin sign that I did tonight and the first picture shows 3 areas where I applied the Mothers and rubbed long enough to clean the spot. Upper right corner--lower right corner and the letter "N" on the left were the small areas I used to demonstrate the before and after effects. This was real tough sooty like grime from years of sitting in an old gas station and it doesn't come off easily. Soap and water wouldn't do it.
The second picture shows the finished sign and the third picture is a pic of the product.
Now I'm not saying that this is the perfect answer but I've used it for several years and it works pretty darn good. You do have to be careful on very weak paint on oil cans as it will remove the very weak paints and ruin your can. It doesn't just wipe the paint off but hard rubbing on weak paint will lighten it considerably and you don't want that.
Where this product really shines, is on porcelain signs and I use a drill operated "Powerball" made by the same company, to cover large areas faster. The powerball really helps when you're going after those stubborn rubber skid marks. They take a while.
Well, good luck and I hope this helps someone!---Thanks--KEVIN