# Simichrome is amazing



## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

Oh my god. How did I live without this stuff?


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## McMan (May 21, 2019)

Better than Flitz?


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## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

McMan said:


> Better than Flitz?


It’s been sometime since I used flitz, but semichrome removed all patina on my blade in about 10-15 secs.
Wow just wow.
I’ve been aware of semichrome for a while...wished I would’ve tried it sooner.


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## McMan (May 21, 2019)

Whoah. I've been using Flitz this whole time... I'll have to give it a try.


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## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

Semichrome is to patina removal as atoma is for stone flattening. About the best analogy I can think of at the moment.


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## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

McMan said:


> Whoah. I've been using Flitz this whole time... I'll have to give it a try.


Also, you only have to use just a very small amount, maybe a teaspoon or even less. Don’t get discouraged if it’s $10 or so for a 2 ounce tube.


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## daveb (May 21, 2019)

I had to use semichrome back in my Navy days. Every effin day, polish the effin belt buckle. Every effin day. Not sure I ever want to use it again. Call me Flitz guy.


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## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

Have you ever used it for knives? Do I need to throw a sample in the box for you?


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## Bensbites (May 21, 2019)

Have you tried mother’s metal polish? I have used that since I have it on hand. I saw somewhere online it is ~30k grit

Edit. Another google search said 3-4K for grit rating.


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## labor of love (May 21, 2019)

Bensbites said:


> Have you tried mother’s metal polish? I have used that since I have it on hand. I saw somewhere online it is ~30k grit


No not yet. My mind is just blown right now.
Semichrome is liking buying a product from an infomercial that actually does everything it claims to do.


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## deleon (May 21, 2019)

Simichrome and Nevr-Dull, indispensable back in the motorcycle days of the 70's for metal polishing. Mother's and Flitz are good products also but I would rate them:
1) Simichrome
2) Flitz
3) Mother's
YMMV


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## AT5760 (May 21, 2019)

We used Brasso in my Navy days, lots and lots of Brasso.


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## ThinMan (May 21, 2019)

Jon at JKI uses Simichrome. I say no more other than that my personal experience matches Labor’s.


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## Jville (May 22, 2019)

Where do you get the simichrome from. Ill have to check it out.


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## JBroida (May 22, 2019)

ThinMan said:


> Jon at JKI uses Simichrome. I say no more other than that my personal experience matches Labor’s.


yup... and i tell everyone about it... great stuff


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## labor of love (May 22, 2019)

Jville said:


> Where do you get the simichrome from. Ill have to check it out.


I found it on amazon.


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## drsmp (May 29, 2019)

does this leave any scratches? Only good for polished blades? Does it fade Damascus and other finishes? Any tips on its use? Thanks


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## labor of love (May 29, 2019)

Someone that’s actually used semichrome for more than a week could help you out. I’ve just used it to remove all patina very quickly and I didn’t notice any scratching.


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## parbaked (May 29, 2019)

Simichrome is engineered to leave a thin protective coating to prevent future tarnishing.
It's really important to wash it off completely so one doesn't notice any impact on future patina.


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## daveb (May 29, 2019)

or fude?


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## Barclid (May 29, 2019)

It's an abrasive-based metal polish in a kerosene-based medium. Here's the MSDS: https://www.happich.de/_media/_zert/en/SDS_Simichrome_Polish_US.pdf

Works great, I love it. My issue with it is that it smells a bit like a bad fart. The kerosene is the "protective layer". You can find other metal polishes that work similarly, but I believe Flitz's is chemical-based, not abrasive-based.


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## Badgertooth (May 29, 2019)

Damn, USD30 for a teeny 50gr tube here


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## labor of love (May 29, 2019)

Badgertooth said:


> Damn, USD30 for a teeny 50gr tube here


Nah. Mine was $12


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## Luftmensch (May 29, 2019)

Any Autosol** users here?

It sounds similar to Simichrome. Autosol is fast and leaves a bright shine. It makes very short work of removing a patina. BUT depending on what you want to use it for, it is perhaps too aggressive. If you have slaved over a delicate kasumi finish, it might start turning the haze into bright polish.



Badgertooth said:


> Damn, USD30 for a teeny 50gr tube here



If you are curious about Autosol, you should be able to find it at Bunnings for around $10 for a 75g tube... Or Supercheap Auto. A little goes a long way - that tube will last you a long time.


... A final safety warning nobody asked for p). Some of these polishing compounds can have pretty nasty chemicals in them. Make sure you act in your best interest and be sure to clean your blade thoroughly afterwards!



** I suspect most of us will use what is 'at hand'. Given this is a global community, what is 'at hand' probably betrays some regionality. I haven't seen Flitz or Simichrome in my local shops...


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## zmaster (May 29, 2019)

Barclid said:


> It's an abrasive-based metal polish in a kerosene-based medium. Here's the MSDS: https://www.happich.de/_media/_zert/en/SDS_Simichrome_Polish_US.pdf
> 
> Works great, I love it. My issue with it is that it smells a bit like a bad fart. The kerosene is the "protective layer". You can find other metal polishes that work similarly, but I believe Flitz's is chemical-based, not abrasive-based.



Yes, this. I bought some Simichrome a while ago based off people's positive reviews and was surprised at the smell. I need to make sure there's ventilation in the room. Otherwise the smell is overpowering at times. Is the strong smell also present for other chemical polishers like Flitz?


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## Barclid (May 29, 2019)

zmaster said:


> Yes, this. I bought some Simichrome a while ago based off people's positive reviews and was surprised at the smell. I need to make sure there's ventilation in the room. Otherwise the smell is overpowering at times. Is the strong smell also present for other chemical polishers like Flitz?



They pretty much all smell bad to varying degrees. Simichrome smells vaguely sulfurous to me. I personally use another kerosene-based abrasive polish. It still smells, but just a little like lighter fluid.


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## labor of love (May 30, 2019)

Never noticed the smell, but I’ve only used like a teaspoon at a time.


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## refcast (May 30, 2019)

I believe a majority of metal polishes use ammonia for some reason. So they smell like windex and paint thinner from the added petrolatum distillates. I know mothers and blue magic (?) smell that way.


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## Barclid (May 30, 2019)

Yeah, that's the smell most of them have. On top of that, Simichrome has a sulfurous smell to me. I've used Flitz's, Simichrome, Pikal and Wenol all side-by-side the verify and Simichrome was the only one that smelled like a fart to me. Wenol, Pikal and Simichrome all had that windex/paint thinner smell from the kerosene. Flitz's also had an odor to it, but not as strong and not quite the same. I'm sensitive to smells like this though, so I'm being a bit picky. As far as results go, I still love Simichrome.


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## Nemo (May 30, 2019)

Luftmensch said:


> I haven't seen Flitz or Simichrome in my local shops...



Check motorcycle shops.


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## TurboScooter (May 30, 2019)

According to this thread the abrasives in Flitz are finer than that in Simichrome.

I'm almost positive Flitz used to list AlOx on the SDS at some point.


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## Barclid (May 30, 2019)

Flitz comes in liquid and paste form. Maybe the paste has abrasive, but I'm pretty sure the liquid is chemical. I've not seen any specific micron rating to any of these metal polishes published from the manufacturer. Doesn't mean it's not out there, just haven't seen it.

Edit: I see in the post where they got the response from the manufacturers, just saying I haven't seen it directly and I'm skeptical of what CS reps at companies say.


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## TurboScooter (May 30, 2019)

Barclid said:


> Flitz comes in liquid and paste form. Maybe the paste has abrasive, but I'm pretty sure the liquid is chemical. I've not seen any specific micron rating to any of these metal polishes published from the manufacturer. Doesn't mean it's not out there, just haven't seen it.
> 
> Edit: I see in the post where they got the response from the manufacturers, just saying I haven't seen it directly and I'm skeptical of what CS reps at companies say.



Simichrome is published on their web page at least.


https://www.gesswein.com/p-5092-simichrome-polish.aspx said:


> Particle size: 8 to 10 microns.



I am referring to the blue paste Flitz; it's the only one I've used. That's the original isn't it? I remember when they used to have a late night infomercial for it. I only recall the liquid version popping up fairly recently - within the last 10 years maybe (?).


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## Luftmensch (May 30, 2019)

Nemo said:


> Check motorcycle shops.



Guess we go to different shops 

It would be cool to see a polish shoot out... not sure it is a variable worth optimising though. I am sure they (Flitz, Simichrome, Autosol, Mother's) all, roughly speaking, do the same job!


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## Nemo (May 30, 2019)

Luftmensch said:


> Guess we go to different shops



Actually, I don't frequent motorcycle establishments and I don't have any Simichrome. Simichrome is often used on motorcycle exhaust pipes and motorbike shops are an often recommended place to get it.

FWIW, I use Mothers (got mine at Autobarn FWIW), which I seem to recall reading is 0.5 micron AlOx in a petroleumy ammoniumy base.


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## MindTone (May 30, 2019)

So what's the best way to get the knife clean after simichrome and such things? Is hot water and soap enough or should I give it a rubdown with acetone to be on the safe side?


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## Barclid (May 30, 2019)

TurboScooter said:


> Simichrome is published on their web page at least.
> 
> 
> I am referring to the blue paste Flitz; it's the only one I've used. That's the original isn't it? I remember when they used to have a late night infomercial for it. I only recall the liquid version popping up fairly recently - within the last 10 years maybe (?).


Gesswein isn't the manufacturer of Simichrome, though: Happich is. Anyway I'm not saying it's *not* 8-10 micron abrasive, just that I haven't seen it stated from the source. Works fine for my use without knowing the exact micron designation.


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## Dave Martell (May 30, 2019)

OK I'm going to have to finally buy some Simichrome and try it out. I've been using Flitz since the '90s but I can't resist the draw.

BTW, Flitz stinks and it wrecks a sharp edge instantly so I'm not in love with it.


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## labor of love (May 30, 2019)

I snorted some semichrome earlier. It actually does kinda stink.


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## daveb (May 30, 2019)

Nothing says eau de cologne quite like BKF. Great product for wholesale work otherwise.


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## JLaz (Jun 19, 2019)

Sorry to revive this thread but I'm just curious as to how you guys clean the knives to food safe after using simichrome on them? Would soap and warm water be enough?


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## JBroida (Jun 19, 2019)

yeah... should be more than enough


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## Dave Martell (Oct 6, 2019)

I finally bought some Simichrome and while I have nothing to report on how it works on knives (since I haven't used it for that yet) I wanted to share how incredibly GREAT it cleaned up the headlights on my wife's car. I used to use Flitz for this and that worked good enough but Simichrome blew that away in a fraction of the time and with far less product being used. That alone is a big time win for me.


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## labor of love (Oct 6, 2019)

Still using it once a week to clean up my soft iron clad knives. Love it.


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## Luftmensch (Oct 7, 2019)

MindTone said:


> So what's the best way to get the knife clean after simichrome and such things? Is hot water and soap enough or should I give it a rubdown with acetone to be on the safe side?





JLaz said:


> Sorry to revive this thread but I'm just curious as to how you guys clean the knives to food safe after using simichrome on them? Would soap and warm water be enough?



Yeah... thorough application of detergent and a rinse should be enough. If you are paranoid you could wipe off as much as possible, rub down with isopropyl alcohol _then_ clean with detergent.


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