Aluminum is one of the most freely found metals in our Earth’s crust. Although its not really useful on its own as its too soft, mixed with certain other metals such as magnesium, zinc or copper it can be used for almost absolutely anything. Aluminum is used to make anything from boats, motors, gutters, paints, electric works, pots and pans, machinery, utensils etc etc. Although aluminium is pretty resistant to corrosion it tends to gray out in a few months. This happens thanks to aluminums love for oxygen. In this article we will see some easy and home do able methods to clean your aluminum kitchenware and other aluminum objects.

• Scrubbing: Scrub the hell out of it. Use some warm water and first clean the vessel. Use a detergent and a scrubber to scrub away the grime and dirt it might have accumulated. As aluminum forms aluminum oxide after combining with oxygen in the air it develops a dull gray color. Scrub hard to get rid of this. Clean the edges well. At the end of this process you must be left with plain aluminum without the dulling aluminum oxide coating.
• Removing burnt food: Burnt food might stick to aluminum utensils. To clean this first boil some water in the vessel. Make sure the boiling water connects with the burnt food area. Use a wooden spatula to scrub off this food as the water boils. Boil for about 10 minutes before attempting to scrub to let give water time to do its job. You might need to repeat this process a couple of times to get it all off.
• Breaking the acids: The simplest way of breaking aluminum oxide in a pan or a pot is to cook something acidic in it. Good choices are apples, tomatoes, lemons or rhubarb. If you don’t wanna cook or waste food then fill the pan with water and add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice from about 2-3 lemons. Boil for at least 15 minutes. You might have to repeat the process many times before you get the result you desire. Small aluminum items can be immersed in larger pots and this method of cleaning can be used to clean them effectively.
• Avoid abrasives: Using harsh abrasive materials to clean aluminum can result in scratches and make cleaning in the future difficult. Use good steel wool and only use it if you have no other choice. Never scrub in circular patterns.
• For surfaces: To clean surfaces of aluminum items the method of cleaning is the same. The best way to clean is to use acids. This breaks down aluminum oxide and gives you shiny aluminum. Cut a couple of lemons and sprinkle some salt on it. Don’t rub way too hard as salt is abrasive and will leave scratches. Some bottled lemon juice along with an old rag will work fine too.

Thats it, follow the above tips and you will have all your aluminum objects to shiny new in no time at all. Just be careful as to not burn yourself when cleaning.

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