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Help! Oxiclean turned my aluminum handles black!

After having great luck with soaking gunky razors bought on ebay in an Oxiclean solution, I put my newest acquisitions into an Oxiclean bath and went out for a bite to eat. When I got back everything looked nice and clean and soap scum free except for the two aluminum handled Techs. The handles on both of these have turned completely black, I'm guessing that the Oxi just oxidized them. Is there anything I can soak them in to get them back to a nice silvery aluminum shine or is this gonna take a lot of hard rubbing and polishing to restore the finish?
 
Something similar happened to me with a brass razor. If it makes you feel any better it got better with time, now i can barely tell that it ever happened.

Sorry don't know of any quick fixes. Good luck
 
You can't really polish Aluminum with normal polishes. (aluminum oxides on contact with air anyways)
I'd wait for someone with experience to answer first, but aluminum wheel polish?
 
After having great luck with soaking gunky razors bought on ebay in an Oxiclean solution, I put my newest acquisitions into an Oxiclean bath and went out for a bite to eat. When I got back everything looked nice and clean and soap scum free except for the two aluminum handled Techs. The handles on both of these have turned completely black, I'm guessing that the Oxi just oxidized them. Is there anything I can soak them in to get them back to a nice silvery aluminum shine or is this gonna take a lot of hard rubbing and polishing to restore the finish?

You're spot on. The main active ingredient in Oxi-Clean and its competition is sodium percarbonate (some use part sodium perborate). It's like a long-acting hydrogen peroxide, and it does oxidize sensitive stuff if you soak it for awhile. I nearly ruined a Calphalon special no-stick pan just soaking it for an hour or so.

Fortunately, you have a native aluminum handle, and the oxide film is thin so it can be removed using a good metal polish intended for aluminum. Two that I have used a lot and recommend highly are: Wenol and Simichrome. Both are made in Germany, but are widely available. I found the Simichrome at a local motorcycle shop, as it's a fav for polishing bike parts. The two products look, feel, smell and work identically (I haven't tasted them:biggrin:). They are pink-colored paste polishes containing a small amount of jeweler's rouge. If your item has a knurled handle, just use a small toothbrush to work in the polish. You can rinse off under tap water and repeat until all the black is gone. You can use these on wet surfaces, too. Good as new, or better! Note--not good for plated or anodized (colored) metals.
 
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