Diesel RVs: [diesel_mercedes] Re: my 2 cents on headlights. toothpaste

Tom, as an ex silver jewelry manufacturer, I can vouch for what you say about abrasives in toothpaste. We used to use abrasives down to 8,000 grit, then polish to get rid of the 8,000 grit scratches.
Tony

--- In diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com, "n61cm" <jim@...> wrote:
>
> Good thing he didn't brush his teeth with it!
>
> Jim
>
>
> --- In diesel_mercedes@yahoogroups.com, audiolaw@ wrote:
> >
> > It's VERY important to remember that toothpaste is abrasive, and
> > 'whitening' toothpaste is more abrasive than average toothpaste. The result of
> > polishing headlights with toothpaste should be the same as polishing any metal
> > or glass with abrasives.
> >
> > Even fine abrasives leave groove patterns in what is polished. The
> > finer the polish, the finer the grooves. And whether you polish in a
> > straight line or swirl or circles, etc. will also affect the grooves that are
> > left.
> >
> > Look at a CD or DVD. The groove in one of those (one groove, from
> > edge to center) is too fine to be visible to the naked eye. But tilt the disc
> > in the light and you will see rainbow patterns reflected, as the light
> > refracts off the groove.
> >
> > I expect that you can achieve good results with a fine abrasive. I
> > don't know that toothpaste is fine enough. But now that they're clean, get
> > an LED minimag lite and shine it through from the bulb socket. Move it
> > around and see how the light comes through the lens, and whether it is getting
> > refracted or the lens focus is affected.
> >
> > You might want to get some very fine silver or other polish to follow
> > the toothpaste.
> >
> > ALSO, notice that the refracting grooves also happen whenever anyone
> > uses emery paper or a fine file on electrical connections. It doesn't take
> > much to cut through any coating on the connection and expose the base
> > metal, thereby decreasing the electrical conductivity AND opening the door to
> > corrosion starting.
> >
> > That's why electronic engineers always say NEVER 'clean' any
> > electrical connection with anything harsher than a pencil eraser.
> >
> > Tom
> >
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 3/9/2013 9:52:51 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
> > jcrcpa@ writes:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Last week I cleaned the headlights on my cars based on a utube video.
> > colgate whitening toothpaste. rub on rub off. made them clear as ... well
> > it made them clear. I will report back after a few weeks.
> >
> > Chuck
> > 84 300sd
> >
>