Barkeeper's Friend

[ninjaneer]

My Mark's stainless steel pipes were looking a little ratty, so today I decided to clean them.

I've been using BKF ever since I installed the exhaust back in December to keep the discoloration off because I'm like that. I know some of you like to wear the golden hue as some sort of badge of honor, but I just like shiny things and will likely either chrome them if I decide against black powder coating them. Anyways, I digress, I figured that there are some of you that share my taste for shiny objects as well as my frugal nature, and thought of sharing this with you--because at two-and-half bucks a can you can't go wrong.

Sprinkle the powder onto a wet sponge and knead it into the sponge. Then just like you would normally do, with light pressure rub the pipes until the discoloration has been removed. Rinse with clean water and dry. For stubborn patches, make a paste, apply and let sit for thirty seconds. Repeat if necessary. BUT BE CAREFUL! Whether a solution or a paste (especially in a paste) do not let the product sit for over a minute--the active ingredient that sets the product apart from the rest (oxalic acid) will eat into the surface. Ask me how I know. :bang head:

Sold as a multipurpose cleanser for chrome, stainless steel, copper, brass, porcelain, tile, ceramic and fiberglass surfaces that gently removes rust, lime and hard water stains, and tarnish; I use it for everything from my kitchen sinks, to toilets, to my stock exhausts (wish I had "before" shots to share) that I cleaned up so that I can try to sell them (hint hint).

Here is an after-shot of the front of #3's header


Here is a before and after series of the #3 pipe section that runs along the bottom of the frame. It is kind of hard to tell, but in the first pic I was trying to capture the discoloration that starts after the pipe bend where I stopped using BKF.


BKF also comes in a liquid form at something like a half to a whole buck more, something that I will look into some time in the future, but at the moment the powder is all that I need.

I usually follow up with some homemade "truckstop" polish to give my metals a little more blingy luster, but that's a different topic.

 

[Geek_Law]

That's amazing. Thanks for the tip.

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Old thread, but I gotta give a shout out to Ninjaneer on this one. I have my exhaust off so I decided to clean it up. I used my usual "never dull" on it, and even though it cleaned off the road grime, it still wasn't to my satisfaction. I went out and bought the liquid form of Barkeepers friend and went to work on my pipes. This stuff works fantastic, took the gold and purple discoloration off, and made my Marks pipes look almost as good as the day I unpacked them from the box. I tried "blue job", "blue away", and neither worked like this stuff. Anyone who wants to clean their pipes up, this stuff is the real deal! Just make sure you don't leave it on more than 1 minute without rinsing with water. Never dull is $6, blue job is $11, blue away is $8,..... Barkeepers friend is $3 and it WORKS!

 

[sdt354]

Looks like a great product. I myself had the down tubes ceramic coated and polished the cans. I've been investigating powder coating and think the pipes get past the flow out temp up by the exahst port, at least.
Steve-o

 

[95spfldmax]

WOW! Missed this post originally. Thanks for bringing back up. I presently have my pipes off and a perfect time to try this. Thanks Ninja.

 

[NHVmaxpower]

Great write up. But how long does it last before you need to reclean the pipes?

 

[Redbone]

WOW! Missed this post originally. Thanks for bringing back up. I presently have my pipes off and a perfect time to try this. Thanks Ninja.

+1, going to get some for my pipes too. They didn't get much attention last year so this should help get them nice and new looking again.
Thanks G! :thumbs up::thumbs up:

 

[Tex85]

I have a fairly new set of marks stainless myself and I am going to pick this stuff up as well since I already have discoloration. Think Ace would have it or is it a bit more specialized?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[ninjaneer]

i found mine at lowe's. i wouldn't be surprised if you found it Wally World

Regards from my Taptalking Hercules Android

 

[Redbone]

i found mine at lowe's. i wouldn't be surprised if you found it Wally World

Regards from my Taptalking Hercules Android

Yes, when I did a search from the Barkeepers website for my area they listed Ace Hardware/ Walmart as places to go, amongst 15 other places in Michigan.

 

[Tex85]

Thanks

 

[95spfldmax]

+1, going to get some for my pipes too. They didn't get much attention last year so this should help get them nice and new looking again.
Thanks G! :thumbs up::thumbs up:

Same here.....I just 0000 them and was going to be happy enough with the outcome......but now i'll get to compare how much more cleaner them become.

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

I finished my last 2 pipes today. This stuff is frickin amazing. A couple of rubs with BKF in a clean cloth, then a quick rinse with water and BAM brand new again!

 

[mckzx9]

Thanks for the info. My headers are jet coated black but my crossover isn't. Gonna try this over the weekend :eusa_dance:

 

[ninjaneer]

I finished my last 2 pipes today. This stuff is frickin amazing. A couple of rubs with BKF in a clean cloth, then a quick rinse with water and BAM brand new again!