Soot off aluminum window frames, without touching the finish
A frames-only job on a Charlotte office tower, done with non-abrasive tools and two coats of protection.
4001 E Independence Blvd is a commercial office building in Charlotte, North Carolina. This job was narrower than most on this page: the aluminum window frames, and nothing else.
What went wrong
Soot, debris and general buildup across the frames. It is the ordinary result of a building sitting on a busy road for years, and it is the sort of thing that makes a well-kept building look tired even when nothing is actually failing.
Why the tools matter as much as the chemistry
Anodized aluminum has a finish on it, and that finish is thin. Scrub it with anything abrasive and the soot comes off along with the anodizing, which leaves a patch that is brighter than everything around it and cannot be put back. The frame then needs painting, which is a different job at a different price.
So the work was done with non-abrasive tools: a white pad and 0000 grade steel wool, which is fine enough to lift deposits without cutting into the surface underneath.
What was used
EnviRestore Metal Stain Remover did the cleaning, worked over the frames with those tools. It lifts soot, mineral deposits and general buildup off metal rather than grinding them away.
Metal Protector MD went on afterwards, in two coats rather than one. On a facade this exposed, the second coat is what carries the protection through the years between cleans.
How it came out
The frames came back to an even, clean finish with the anodizing intact, and the building reads as maintained again. The glass on this building was left alone, since it did not need restoring.
Products used on this project
- EnviRestore Metal Stain Remover — soot and buildup on the aluminum frames
- Metal Protector MD — two coats, for protection against corrosion and wear