I was working on a project that required polishing a piece of Acrylic that I had shaped & sanded ending with 400 grit wet dry paper. It looked good but I wanted a better gloss. Nothing much seemed to work, as it was either much to gritty for me to try, or if it was smooth enough, it did little at all. Good Ole Toothpaste was as good as it got, and it was very slow.
Hmm... Looking around the shop I saw a bottle of Chalk Dust, you know, that stuff they put in snap lines to mark the entire side of buildings and such. Well, I thought, chalk is a mineral, and yet very soft. What the heck.
So a bit of chalk dust, and a tiny amount of oil (WD-40) to make a slightly pasty mess and after a bit of work with a soft rag, the part was positively glossy! Came off pretty easy too, hot water and dish soap. Threw on a coating of Pledge Furniture Polish to keep that shine going and done.
This might help folks with meter faces or other parts that are not metal but need to shine up, probably put a mirror finish on Aluminum if you wanted though. I wouldn't use it on Bakelite, with out a test. Use with a Q-tip for hard to reach places. Chuck the Q-tip in a dremel if your impatient (wear eye protection, it'll sling about a bit!)
Oh, and don't worry, that lovely Blue color will wash off your hands eventually, or you could just leave it on, and tell folks you work in the portable toilet business... after you shake hands.
