Re: [A/S] To Polish or Not?

[Herb Spies <spies@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

It will be bright longer than a year. My guess is it would look shiny 
even after 5 years even if you did nothing.  But it will not be as shiny 
as it was the day you complete the polishing.  In my case I went to a 
mirror shine and after I year I can see the difference. It still shines 
more than most other Airstreams so it looks good. But I polish once a 
year to bring back the mirror shine.

I live about 2 miles from the Gulf in a very humid environment. Probably 
one of the worst for aluminum oxidation. For instance last August the 
worst case of  oxidation occured while the Airstream was under a shed. 
We were camping and kept the AC going all the time as it was 95 degrees 
and close to 100% humidity. The cold aluminum condensed water from the 
air all week and had the "frosty'" look. All of this is to say if you 
live in a dryer climate the polish will last even longer.  I do wax the 
Airstream with a car wax called Nu Finish that seems to help but not 
stop the oxidation.

Also the first polish is the hard one.  If it takes you 200 hours the 
first time, the second time will only take 30 or 40 hours. And the 
Airstream will look even better after the second time.

Herb
see my Globetrotter at
http://www.nwflorida.net/