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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ
The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Need help cleaning/polishing aluminum cookware
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Q. I have an old Saftborn juicer that I am assuming is aluminum. The bottom pan, which holds the water for boiling, is very pitted, and I am wondering if there is a way to restore this to prevent it from getting worse. I got the pan on a garage sale, and am guessing that they must have let the pan dry out on the stove a few times to get these pits.
Are they "poisoning" my juice, and is there anything I can do about them?
Thanks!
- Chilliwack, BC, Canada
August 20, 2014
Juice King Vintage Juicers on eBay
A. Hi Rachel. You should be able to tell whether it's stainless steel or aluminum from its weight, since stainless is 3X heavier; some stainless steel is also magnetic. Your pits are really deep! We appended your inquiry to a thread on the subject which attempts to answers your questions; if aluminum, try re-buffing it with the "Mother's" setup -- but they may be too deep to practically get out with equipment that it is relatively safe for an untrained polisher to use because you have to remove the metal which is above the bottom of the pit. But maybe you can at least smooth them out :-(
If it's stainless though, it will be way beyond the cutting power of a portable drill and aluminum polish. Please let us know how you do.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2014
Q. I have a large pot which is porous and labeled at the bottom Household Institute Cooking Utensils Aluminum. I love this pan because my Italian sauce and meat does not stick to the bottom. I bought this at a flea market and not sure how to clean the inside. The inside of the pot is a dull gray and a few spots look white.
My sister has the same pan as well and bought her pan as I did at a church sale and both of us have tried numerous ways to get the pans more of the original color. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Joanne
Joanne Eydenbereg- Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
September 20, 2014
A. Hi Joanne. You might clean it with the cream of tartar described above, but I'm pretty confident that the gray color you are seeing is the right color. Hard anodized aluminum is not metallic looking but is a soft charcoal gray; the "white" areas are probably where the anodizing has worn thin so you are seeing closer to the aluminum color.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 2014
Q. I saw someone put gasoline in a large silver aluminum bowl as he had a hole in his gas tank. My question is what can this be cleaned with, and is it safe to put food in, or is it best to throw it away. Any answer would be appreciated.
Alice Jensen- Mankato, Minnesota Blue Earth
October 19, 2014
A. Hi Alice. I don't think anyone can answer your question really well. Certainly, you can get all traces of gasoline and oil out by repeated cleaning with detergent, sponges & plastic scouring pads. But can you ever convince your nose not to smell a faint odor of gasoline after the image has been burned into your eyes?
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 2014
Q. I just made meatballs on an aluminum baking pan with a top with holes in it for the meat to drain. I didn't realize that I probably never put it in the dishwasher when I lived in Queens. So now that I did (I have moved to Florida), it has black stains all over it looks like it got burnt. I tried cleaning it tonight with comet and scouring pads it got a bit better but I REALLY WANT TO CLEAN IT AND HAVE IT BE all good. I am not buying a new pan. What can I use? Thanks, I will never put it in the dishwasher again :-(
DONNA SHARP- DELRAY BEACH Florida
October 27, 2014
A. Hi Donna. I guess I'd try the cream of tartar. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 2014
Q. I will try the CREAM OF TARTAR THANKS WHERE DO I GET THAT -- HARDWARE STORE OR FOOD STORE?
THANKS.
DONNA
- DELRAY BEACH
October 27, 2014
A. Hi Donna. The spice aisle of the food store. But you might want to buy an 8-ounce or so jar on-line as an alternate to several tiny spice jars.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
October 2014
Q. I recently cooked lobster in my Wagnerware Magnalite roaster that I inherited from my parents. It still has a faint odor of the lobster. Will that odor permeate into the turkey? And how do I get rid of the odor?
giny tabor- pembroke, maine, USA
November 29, 2014
Q. Has anyone tried this method on their Wagnerware Magnalite pans? Any luck?
castironcollector.com/aluminum.php
- Columbia, Connecticut
February 8, 2015
A. Hi Brenda. The author of that article describes cleaning the pot as well as practical, then wet sanding with progressively finer sandpaper. That is the standard polishing method for most everything, so it surely should work, and the author obviously had good success. Please describe what you tried and what happened for you ...
The most common problem is lack of patience or trying to shortcut the approach, because what is needed is very simple in concept: you can't get a good polish from rough sandpaper, you need to use very fine paper. But you can't polish a rough surface to smooth with fine sandpaper because it would take the better part of forever (like trying to excavate for the foundation of a skyscraper with a tablespoon). So you must start with a rough grade, then use a smoother grade, but still capable of removing the scratches the rough grade caused. Then a finer grade, etc., usually in 6 or 7 steps, not 2 or 3. It's a very big job. Thanks!
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
February 2015
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Q. Now that I have the aluminum pot sparkling, how can I freshen up the oxidized black handles on my aluminum pots? Elizabeth Johnson- Weimar, Texas, USA March 9, 2015 |
Q. I have an aluminum 1-1/2 quart pot in which I burned coffee. The pot was completely burned inside. I have been able to remove most of the burned substance but there is a black ring around the inside bottom of the pot. How can I remove it? Please let me know if it can be cleaned.
thank you so much,
- Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz
March 25, 2015
Hi Nora. We added your question to a thread which has already addressed it. You might try the Cream of Tartar idea, or one of the others. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
April 2015
! The name of the company that makes Magnalite is General Housewares Corp. Their address is 1536 Beech Street, Terre Haute, IN. 47804. Hope this helps anyone trying to use the warranty to get them refinished.
CHARLES P.- HOUMA, Louisiana
April 15, 2015
Q. I found my mother's hammered aluminum (Club) and it was full of calcium deposits looked like mold and black spotting. I got all of the calcium and mold off with vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . It is left with black spots and very dull and rough on the inside. I would like to use it again but I want it to be clean and safe to use. What is your best advise?
Stephanie Beam- Auberry California
May 6, 2015
Q. I am looking to purchase some Magnalite cookware and notice some have pitting and I am wondering if or how the pitting will affect the functionality of the pot.
Jan Moore- Burlington, North Carolina
June 6, 2015
A. Hi Jan. I'm certainly no expert, but presumably it will be more difficult to properly clean. Speaking just for myself, I'd continue to use moderately pitted pots I owned, but I would not buy them.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2015
Q. I have a Magnalite pot that was my grandmother's. Of course it has been used for years and has the black build up on the outside bottom. My husband tried the oven cleaner in the plastic bag trick and left it out in the sun for a day. It now has "run" tracks from where the cleaner ran, and is pitted and darkened around the outside top. Please give any advice that will help us restore it. He is currently polishing it with some metal polishing compound he has. The lid is now shiny and the runs are less pronounced. It never had a shiny finish all the years I have had it, will take some time to get used to. I suppose with use it will return to what it looked like when I received it. Any knowledgeable advice is welcomed and thanks in advance.
Cheryl Heilig- Waterloo Illinois
June 7, 2015
Q. I have my grandmother's large oval cooker with a lid. It has a black coating on the bottom,partially scrubbed off. It also has some rust on the outer rim of the bottom. I love cooking with it. It is ClubCraft and most likely from the 30's-40's. Is the black coating possibly from cooking over a fire? How do I remove the rust?
Marilove E. Challenger- Boise,Idaho USA
June 20, 2015
A. Hi. Yes, a dark black might well be from cooking over an open wood fire. Such carbon deposits are very difficult to remove because they're not soluble in anything (acid, alkalis, and detergents don't do anything). You might try getting a buffing wheel for a battery operated drill (battery operated and low power because people can easily get hurt) or better yet, a Dremel, and some abrasive buffing compound to see if you can get it off. After you've worn away the toughest stuff, you could try the cream of tartar suggested above. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2015
Burnt aluminium saucepan
Q. I left mashed potatoes in my lovely 80 year old aluminum saucepan and it burned black - boiled it with salt and got the mass off, but the burned stains are still there.
Will baking soda work - have been reading the answers to other questions and it seems hopeful.
bad cooking - Griffith, New South Wales, Australia
September 25, 2015
Hi Betty. Cream of Tartar sounds a lot more promising to me.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
September 2015
Q. Hello,
I have a question on a cast aluminum dutch oven. It was a gift about 45 years ago and I have used it a lot, most recently for slow cooking spaghetti sauce. My hubby, bless his little heart, washed it for me. He used Comet! The result is a black interior. I tried vinegar, baking soda and Cream of Tartar. Nothing takes the black off.
I'm primarily concerned that the reaction of the Comet with the aluminum somehow made this pot hazardous to cook with. Maybe a weird sort of chemical reaction turned it black. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
- Coeur d'Alene Idaho USA
August 22, 2016
A. Hi Mary, if it won't come off with vinegar, nor with baking soda, Cream of Tartar, nor with anything else ... it won't come off, so you won't be eating it :-)
But you can probably polish it out with a buffing pad on a battery operated drill and Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish ⇦this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] . Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
August 2016
White stains on Aluminium cooking pots
Q. Hi All.
We are manufacturers of aluminium cookware like cooking pots in Kenya.
We are manufacturing our circles by way of holding and melting furnaces and water cooled moulds. We have hot rolling mills and cold rolling mills and an oil fired furnace.
We are using coconut oils for deep drawing on our mechanical presses and an etching solution for our washing/degreasing lines.
However, we are seeing that there are white stains on the etched product which we are need to help with.
Any consultants out there with experience with such issues please contact us.
- Mombasa, Kenya
January 31, 2019
Ed. note: Sorry, this RFQ is old & outdated, so contact info is no longer available. However, if you feel that something technical should be said in reply, please post it; no public commercial suggestions please ( huh? why?)
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