polishing diamond plate back to a shine

[hpracing10]

I have a diamond plate toolbox behind the cab in my pickup. I am not sure if it is aluminum or stainless steel, as it is very light for its size. Anyway, when I first bought it and installed it, it had a very shiny chrome-like finish. It was basically like a mirror. Now after a year, it is a dull shade and not shiny any longer.

I don't really have a lot of experience in polishing metals of any kind, but I did try polishing it with some Turtle Wax Chrome polish and I used my micro-fiber buffing pad to apply it. I then wiped it clean with a micro fiber cloth, and it still is not as shiny as when it was new. There are no scratchs in it, so how would I go about polishing it back to a nice shine, and what products/methods do I use? Thanks

 

[Jim 5]

Try to find a tube of "Autosol" works great for this purpose and you can do it by hand with a cotton cloth. It's going to take a ton of work though.

 

[ThirdeYe]

One thing I like using for metals is Nevr-Dull polish. Seems to work pretty good.

 

[hate2work]

Sheila Shine is the ticket for stainless.

 

[marty600]

If there is a 'menards' store nearby, they have a big bottle of metal polish, cheap, called Nexol. Green bottle, in the home-cleaning area. I think it's the same formulation as old "flitz". The stuff works great.

 

[RTexasF]

Look into Mother's Power Ball and metal polish. That's assuming you have a drill. The combo works very well and it's easy to use.

 

[Seguino]

If you live near a truck stop ( the Iowa 80 is the biggest in the world ) or truck wash, go there and ask if there's somebody that polishes aluminum. It takes a high speed buffer and polishing compound to get it to look like new without hours (and I mean hours) of hand polishing. Unless you really want to work, get a pro to do it. There used to be guys hanging around the truck stops that would polish all my aluminum wheels ( 10 ) for 40 bucks while I ate supper. Good luck

 

[hpracing10]

Ok thanks for the advise guys. I don't live too close to any truck stops, but I do have a buddy who drives truck so he may know somebody local or he may even be able to help me shine it up.