This one is simple, find a can that contains some liquid or gas that freezes anything it toutches (Like freon, certain isobutanes, or maybe get a can of air for cleaning electronics.) Spray it on whatever you are polishing. After a good layer of frost covers the object, get a very soft fabric and buff it and polish it.
Because metal contracts faster than the gunk that is sticking to the metal, it leaves gunk no longer stuck to the metal, making it easier to clean off...
(This is probably best used with small pieces of metal like a ring, or jewlery.)-- jabberbox, Jun 21 2006 Look up CO2 paint removal. It's similar.-- baconbrain, Jun 21 2006 Nobody counts on the spanish intuition.-- methinksnot, Jun 21 2006 hee hee.
interesting notion. I'd worry about breaking the metal.-- po, Jun 21 2006 I just tried this with a can of CleanSafe dust remover and an old bandana, on an aluminum bicycle rim and a chromeplated fan-motor housing. I turned the can over and got some frost on each test surface, then polished with the bandana. It definitely worked better than on the areas that I polished with the bandana without frost.
Then I thought about what was probably happening, and spit on the surfaces and polished. Spit worked just as well as frost.
I concluded that the cold metal was condensing moisture from the air--the frost--on this humid morning, and the water was serving as the cleaning agent. The chrome fan housing kept collecting a layer of dew for about a minute, even after repeated wiping.
//Because metal contracts faster than the gunk that is sticking to the metal, it leaves gunk no longer stuck to the metal, making it easier to clean off...//
Probably not the case, and probably not the primary cleaning effect. If cold were to do anything to gunk, I'd say it would be something similar to freezing it hard enough to chip off.
I'd fishbone this if it wasn't such a good way to get dumb jewelry owners to give you money. When my jewelry gets dirty, I throw it away.-- baconbrain, Jun 21 2006 random, halfbakery