Restore/refurbish chrome hardware?

[Chasarms]

Does anyone have any experience with removing oxidation and/or slight surface pitting from chrome hardware? I would be interested in hearing your experiences and suggestions.

Thank you.

Chas

[Pilgrim]

I'll be interested to see what others have to say, but my first thought is Simichrome polish. It wouldn't do anything about pitting, but it would shine things up.

[jblock]

I use jeweler's rouge polishing compound (white) that's made for metal/chrome with a dremel and not only does it give a good shine but gets rid of scratches and light pits.

[VroomVroom]

Echo on the rouge + dremel. For any kind of pitting, a chemical polish (a la Simichrome) isn't going to offer much, and an aggressive abrasive polish is going to leave behind hazing and pigtail-type scratches. That said, it's good to have something like Simichrome for a final polish, as products like this usually have some sealers that will provide a layer of protection.

The caveat, as always, is to try a test-spot. Chrome plating, just like any finish, really, varies in quality. While not always the case, pitting is generally a sign of deeper problems - either with the plating, or the underlying material.

[Chasarms]

Thank you for the comments. It turned out to be less of an issue than I thought.

There was no pitting, it was just light oxidation and a heavy build up of some sort of funk. I was able to get it off with wadding and then blinged it with Mothers chrome polish.