Posting this update a little late...
Trying a new product. Well, new to pinball restoration. I used this stuff on my first (running) car, a 1991 Honda Civic 4 door. It had polished aluminum rims, and they dulled down very quickly. At that point in my life, chasing tail was very important, and shiny rims would logically help :) I found an old can while cleaning my garage, and was disappointed to learn that it had turned to dust. However, some careful internet searching indicated that it was still in fact made!
I actually switched to this product from Mother Mag polish on my car, which is what I have been using to polish pin parts, once I scotchbrite the corrosion off of them.
It's called 'X-Treem Metal Polish', and it's $9.95 on eBay for a 3 oz can - the stuff I used on my car was about $15 per can, and was a 1.5 oz can - so I'm getting twice as much for less money. Very nice.
Opening the can, you'll see that there is a plastic bag inside, with what appears to be a pink wad of cotton candy.
It's cotton wadding, which is slightly abrasive, packed with metal polish.
Just peel a chunk off, and start rubbing the part, then wipe with terry towel to check your progress occasionally.
I started with one of my least favorite parts to clean - the bracket the playfield 'rests' on the edge of the cabinet with. These are always in sad shape, because they have been handled so much.
Interim pics:
The wadding looks like this when it's spent and it's time to replace it
Not bad.. less than 2 minutes in the part to this point
Comparing unpolished section, and polished section here
Bracket completely done
The nice thing about the wadding is how it conforms to most any angle, so it's not difficult to clean inside every nook and cranny - and soap and water takes it off your hands, no need to get out the harsh hand cleaner and rough your hands up. 2 thumbs up!
I finished off what was left of the game metal in a couple hours tops, and it all has a nice shine to it. Definite time saver. A $5 can of Mothers will typically get consumed in a game, if I can get a game done in 1 can of this stuff, I can deal with that.
