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test 3: aluminum foil
The nice woman who sold me my chairs had mentioned that a friend of hers had told her that cigarette foil worked wonders on cleaning chrome. As a non-smoker and general naïf myself, I have to admit I wasn’t entirely certain whether there was something particularly special about the foil from cigarettes. But a quick google revealed that many folks do indeed swear by regular old aluminum foil for shining up chrome, so off I went a-digging in the kitchen drawers.

The method | Tear off an 8-10” or so width of aluminum foil. Crumple up the bottom few inches, then rub the crumpled foil back and forth over the chrome with a medium amount of pressure. As the grime comes off on the foil, re-fold and crumple your foil to expose clean areas of the sheet.

The verdict | Once you get past the cringe factor of the sound of foil scraping across metal, this method works surprisingly well, removing surface spots fairly easily, without having to put too much pressure on the rubbing. On larger patches of oxidation and particularly thick layers of grime, however, the foil didn’t seem to do a whole lot.

test 4: aluminum foil + vinegar
While searching for chrome cleaning ideas, one of the wackier suggestions I stumbled across was the combination of foil and Coke. As the idea of sticky Coke residue all over my fab new furniture didn’t exactly entice, I figured that it was likely the acidity of Coke that provided its cleansing properties. Vinegar has a somewhat similar pH, and since I happened to have a big bottle of it on hand anyway, I decided to experiment away.

The method | First give your chrome a wipe with vinegar and a clean rag, to clear off any surface residue. Now tear off an 8-10” sheet of aluminum foil, and crumple it up. Dab some vinegar onto the foil, and rub back-and-forth over the chrome with a medium amount of pressure. Keep working at it; you’ll begin to feel less resistance as a gray liquid forms. Wipe away the liquid every once in awhile, and continue scrubbing with the foil until your chrome is clean.

The verdict | The foil and vinegar combo was the only one that could shine up even the dullest, rustiest areas of my chrome chairs. Badly oxidized sections required a fair amount of labor, but on the whole, this technique was far less taxing than any of the others; the results, meanwhile, were spectacular, restoring silvery shine in areas that I was convinced were beyond salvation. Yes, it’s smelly; sure, it’s messy too. So be sure to work in a well-ventilated area, and wear gloves. Still, there’s no question. Ding ding … we have a winner!

Chrome clean-up: before (left) and after (right). Using the foil and vinegar technique yields the best results for the least amount of energy. A final wipe with vinegar and a clean rag gives extra polish.

With a good technique in place, I began to work away at cleaning the rest of the chrome bit by bit. Meanwhile, it was time to start thinking about phase two of the restoration: cleaning and repairing the vinyl upholstery.

o

check out these related articles:
furniture facelift: refinishing and reupholstering a chair | furnishings first-aid: fixing up a one-dollar thrift store lamp

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