Detergent and hot water, soft narrow brush initially. Rinse and dry with heat gun on low setting to prevent rust forming in seams. Metal polish (I use Solvol Autosol) to finish.
I don't know about Tilley hoods, but for enamel in general I use dishwashing liquid and 0000 steel wool.
I use dishwashing liquid first to clean then I use Brasso for the final clean and polish. Brasso may seem odd, but it works for me, it gets out some of those stubborn stains without making the enamel dull like some auto polishes do.
Dasty from the Wibra. But it will be called different at your end of the world. Cleans dirt, dust, nicotine, soot etc. It is a decreaser (?), wear gloves if you use it longer then a moment. Your hands don't like it.
I'm not referring specifically to a Tilley. I might use organic solvents such as acetone, paint thinners, mineral spirits and steel wool for the initial cleaning. Dishwash detergent and water after that. I previously used(only once), phosphoric acid and alkaline degreasser. That turned out awry and both of them hazed up the enamel permanently.
Well.... I stay away from strong chemicals on enamelled hoods, because of the possible reaction with enamel; and, if possible I try not to have to soak them, so I don’t get water under the cracked enamel. I use a car cleaner that is used to clean upholstery etc in automobiles. I spray it on lightly with a hand gun, and wipe it off quickly with a cotton cloth; repeat etc. If I need to “treat” rust, I use a fine paintbrush and rust converter. If the hood is black I then treat the rust with stove black polish. Cheers Tony
A brass wire brush can be very useful as well and sometimes helps knock any underlying rust. I use meths sometimes if there's any greasy crud.
View attachment 130463 I know this is an old thread but the question I have may be relevant to others who have the same problem. I have some how managed to chatch the arm of my fleece on the hood of my Vapalux M1 when it was running and now has melted fleece on it, see picture. My question is, what is the best way to clean melted plastic off of the enamel, preferrably cold rather than hot. Any help from the Gurus would be most welcome. Many thanks Tim View attachment 130463
The image links don't work, but with any melted plastic on enamel I try picking it off with a very sharp blade first. If you're lucky it will come away in one piece. If you're not, you'll have to pick it off bit by bit. Maybe a soak in kero might penetrate under the plastic making it lift of more easily. Just a couple of ideas to try
Apologies everyone, I'm currently at Bisley in Surry and the internet isn't very good here. This is the picture I was trying to upload:-
Thanks @ColinG, the ony thing I had available was the blade on my Swiss Army knife, and with some very careful scraping, it's come off with not scratch on the enamel. Going to look back through this thread to see what's best to give a polish Once again, many thanks. Tim
To be honest, you can't really polish enamel as it's basically glass. I fill up my sink with warm soapy water and give it a scrub with a scrubbing brush and maybe some very fine wire wool if there are any stubborn remains on it. When it's dry, I rub it with a soft cloth which generally leaves it as shiny as it will ever be. Be very careful of strong alkaline products as they tend to etch the enamel and leave it with an unpleasantly dull surface that can't be polished out. I've done it once and will never do it again!
I forgot about this thread and never thanked anyone, so thank you to all who responded, with their ideas. Regards Team Buggerlugs.
Yes I also find just a little Brasso works well and I often use 0000 steel wool with it generally when there are many marks/stains/dirt on the hood. You do not have to use the amount that you would use if polishing something. If it is just dirty I use cream car polish and a soft cloth. When finished I use metho and paper towel to get the earlier cleaners off and finish with a soft cloth polish.
Hello all, I thought I would experiment on this Tilley hood that has seen better days. I had nothing to lose, so what I did was use polishing compound, on my bench grinder with a polishing wheel, (in Australia the compound is blue). Now if the enamel has come off, all's you can do is polish the rust, which as you will see looks alot better than dirty rust. I didn't bother with the vents on this one, as this was my first attempt. As for the black enamel you will see an amazing difference, that's what I believe, see for yourself and decide what you think? Any thoughts are truly welcomed. Here are the photos, before and after. This is how I will continue to clean my hoods. I did this hood about 8 months ago, I just forgot to post my results. Thanks.
