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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Stainless steel refinishing

I have a 2,000 gallon stainless diesel tank I wish to clean and polish. The tank is approximately 5 years old and has been sitting in the weather, however it has no rust damage. It does, understandably, have some cosmetic tarnishing and oxidation, yet has been inspected and has no violations to the structural integrity. Now, having said that, I pose the questions. Would an acid wash clean this tank and leave it with a bright, reflective finish? If so, which wash would you recommend? Lastly, if an acid wash won't leave it with the desired finish, can you recommend a method to polish the tank?

Brian
- Columbia, Tennessee

You can clean it with citric acid ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or dilute nitric acid. It can be cleaned by buffing, also. You'll need the same equipment as you'd use for buffing your car, but also some fine abrasive called buffing compound. Be very careful not to use HCl ( muriatic acid) or sulfuric acid.

Dr. Michael McGuire
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

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