Exhaust cleaning - the easy way ...

[PerryGunn]

Another option and one I went for. £5.95 incl delivery on eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140707442312?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

I've got a flap ball too - it's good at stage 1 if any black deposits aren't too thick/baked on. If they are, the 'solid' scotchbrite mop works faster

Can't beat the cotton goblet mop for a final polish though 8)

 

[pvr]

Just remember that I chose wirewool 0000 as it does not scratch what so ever, so no marks on the inside of the exhaust. I would not want to use an abrasive material like the scotch pad.

 

[PerryGunn]

Just remember that I chose wirewool 0000 as it does not scratch what so ever, so no marks on the inside of the exhaust. I would not want to use an abrasive material like the scotch pad.

Of course #0000 steel wool scratches, how else do you think it removes the deposits? It's just being used as a fine abrasive - #0000 steel wool has an equivalence of 800 grit paper

Polishing exhausts is the same as polishing anything else, you should chose the least aggressive way of doing what you want consistent with it being done in a reasonable time - you obviously had deposits that a 'liquid' metal polish (the least aggressive/finest abrasive) wouldn't remove quickly enough for you so you picked a more aggressive/harsher abrasive (#0000 steel wool) to do the job in an acceptable time.

If you have lots of thick deposits on your exhausts you can either spend ages using a very fine abrasive or use something a little more aggressive and then refine with a less aggressive polish.The Scotchbrite pads come in various grades from coarse to ultrafine - Light Gray Scotchbrite, at 800-1000 grit equivalent, is the direct match to #0000 steel wool and White Scotchbrite is even finer at 1200-1500 grit equivalent. The picture I posted was of a medium grade mop (~#00 steel wool), Inkey$ flapball is a finer grade (~#000 steel wool), but you can obtain the polishing mops in any of the available grades.

Remember that Scotchbrite was developed by 3M for automotive use and, strictly speaking, as part of a machine process, using the correct grade of Scotchbrite is better than using steel wool as you don't end up with hot metal particles that will bond themselves to the paintwork - you don't have this issue when using steel wool by hand as it doesn't suffer the same heating (friction) and mechanical stresses