Marine Metal Polish

The battle of metal cleaners continues: Four products attack a dirty bow rail. Miracle Cloth still bests the other at getting the grime off.

By
Darrell Nicholson
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Published: Updated:
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In an update to our June 2006 and January 2007 metal polish test, we pit three products against PSs favored metal polish: Miracle Cloth (the top pick for both stainless steel and bronze). The challengers-Sure Shine from Weems & Plath and Metal Polish Pros Mirage Polish & Sealant and Prism Polish-debuted in the bronze cleaner test published in January. This time, we put them to work on a stainless steel bow railing. Both Sure Shine and Prism Polish performed well, but the hands-down winner for shiny stainless remains Miracle Cloth.

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In the last year,

Practical Sailor tested a slew of metal polishes on stainless steel (June 2006) and bronze (January 2007). The bronze test included three newcomers that werent available for the stainless test, so we decided to put those three to work on a grimy stainless bow railing.

Metal Cleaners

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The challengers: Sure Shine from Weems & Plath and Metal Polish Pros Mirage Polish & Sealant and Prism Polish. To see whether they would unseat the reigning overall metal polish, Miracle Cloth rated Excellent in both the stainless and bronze polish test we taped the railing into four sections. Testers applied the products per the instructions, and evaluated how well the newcomers performed against each other and compared to the Miracle Cloth.

Sure Shine is advertised as a one-step application that cleans, polishes, and protects for three to six months. Testers rated it as Very Good.

Prism Polish is a “metal polish and fiberglass deoxidizer” formulated to clean, polish, and protect all metals. It also earned a Very Good rating.

Mirage Polish & Sealant is marketed as a wax-free cleaner and sealant thats safe for all finishes. Although its label claims in the fine print that it cleans chrome, Mirage Polish appears to be meant primarily for “finished” surfaces (clear coat, gelcoat, paints, plastics, etc.) rather than for heavy metal cleaning. In fact, the label for Prism Polish recommends Mirage Polish & Sealant for use on fiberglass and painted surfaces. The Mirage mustered a Fair+ this round.

The Miracle Cloth lived up to its title as Practical Sailors Best Choice for polishing stainless and bronze, edging out the newcomers to keep top honors for stainless cleaning.

Bottom Line:

 The hands-down winner: Miracle Cloth. We recommend both Sure Shine and Prism Polish for cleaning stainless.

To see how the newbies stack up to the other cleaners tested, check out the chart. Five products did not make the performance cut after two tests, and were dropped from the chart: Woody Wax CPR System spray; the liquid Mothers Chrome Polish; Nevr Dull Magic Wadding Polish, the ZEP Stainless Steel spray cleaner, and West Marines Teflon Boat Polish.

Also With This Article...
Darrell Nicholson
Darrell Nicholson
Practical Sailor has been independently testing and reporting on sailboats and sailing gear for more than 50 years. Its independent tests are carried out by experienced sailors and marine industry professionals dedicated to providing objective evaluation and reporting about boats, gear, and the skills required to cross oceans. Practical Sailor is edited by Darrell Nicholson, a long-time liveaboard sailor and trans-Pacific cruiser who has been director of Belvoir Media Group's marine division since 2005. He holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100-ton Master license, has logged tens of thousands of miles in three oceans, and has skippered everything from pilot boats to day charter cats. His weekly blog Inside Practical Sailor offers an inside look at current research and gear tests at Practical Sailor, while his award-winning column,"Rhumb Lines," tracks boating trends and reflects upon the sailing life. He sails a Sparkman & Stephens-designed Yankee 30 out of St. Petersburg, Florida. You can reach him at darrellnicholson.com.

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