An awesome-looking ride isn’t just about shiny paint and spotless rims—it’s all in the details, like your exhaust tips. Yep, those gritty pipes can make or break the look. A gleaming exhaust adds serious style points, so keeping it in tip-top shape is key. Enter Chemical Guys Heavy Metal Polish. This powerhouse polish zaps away carbon buildup, oxidation, and grime, restoring a slick, mirror-like finish. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get those exhaust tips sparkling with a few quick products, so your car’s ready to turn heads for miles.
Prepare Your Gear
Before diving in, make sure you’re armed with the right tools for the job—having these cleaning heroes on hand makes the process way smoother and way more effective:
- Nonsense All-Purpose Cleaner
This powerhouse cleaner tackles dirt, grime, and stubborn buildup with ease, perfect for metal surfaces. - Heavy Metal Polish
Say goodbye to oxidation and tarnish. This polish revives a deep, lustrous shine on any metal, especially those dulled exhaust tips. - Ball Buster Drill Attachment
Speed up your shine. This drill attachment polishes faster and gets into those tricky spots for a gleaming finish. - Workhorse Microfiber Towels
Soft, scratch-free, and ready to buff to perfection—these towels are the ultimate finishing touch for a flawless shine.
Step 1: Wash the Exhaust Tips
Before diving into the polish, it’s key to start with a solid clean-up. Spray some Nonsense All-Purpose Cleaner (diluted 20:1) directly onto those exhaust tips.
Grab a Workhorse Microfiber Towel and give the area a thorough wipe-down, hitting all the nooks and crannies to remove surface grime and dirt.
After cleaning, you’ll probably notice the tips look cleaner but still have some stubborn carbon buildup, stains, and oxidation. These are totally normal for exhaust tips, and this is where polishing steps in to bring back that original shine.
Step 2: Apply Metal Polish
To polish like a pro, start by attaching the Ball Buster Drill Attachment to your drill. (If you’re without a drill, don’t worry—you can go old-school and polish by hand, but the drill will definitely save you some elbow grease.)
Apply a few lines of Heavy Metal Polish directly onto the attachment, then spread it evenly across the surface with gloved hands to prevent splatters once you start polishing.
Step 3: Polish the Exhaust Tips
Attach that Ball Buster Drill Attachment right into the exhaust tip, then kick your drill on at a low speed to work that polish magic into the surface. As you get in the groove, gradually crank up the speed to tackle those pesky oxidation and stains. Thanks to its smart design, you’ll have full control over the polishing process, making sure everything stays even and shiny without going rogue.
Step 4: Buff the Exhaust Tips
After you’ve given that exhaust tip a good polish, grab a fresh Microfiber Towel and wipe away any leftover polish. Buff the entire surface to unveil that gorgeous restored shine. If there are any stubborn spots still clinging to their tarnish, don’t hesitate to hit those areas again with the polishing process.
Step 5: Polish the Outer Edges
For the outer edges of the exhaust tips, apply a line of Heavy Metal Polish to the edge of a clean microfiber towel. Wrap the towel around the edge of the tip and use a back-and-forth motion to polish the metal. This will remove any remaining oxidation and leave the outer surface looking bright and clean.
Final Inspection and Touch-Up
Once you’ve polished to your heart’s content, give those exhaust tips a good once-over for any sneaky missed spots. If you spot any, grab your trusty microfiber towel and hit those areas with a bit more polish. Voilà! Your exhaust tips should now gleam like they just rolled off the showroom floor, free from tarnish, carbon buildup, and oxidation.
Frequent Questions about Cleaning Exhaust Tips
How often should I clean and polish my exhaust tips?
Well, it depends on how much you love your ride and how much road grime you're willing to tolerate. If you're the kind of person who thinks a dirty exhaust tip is a badge of honor, then maybe once a season will do. However, if you want those tips to shine like they just came off the showroom floor, then go ahead and pamper them once a month.
Can I polish the exhaust tips by hand without a drill attachment?
Absolutely, you can polish your exhaust tips by hand with a microfiber towel and metal polish. But if you're looking to speed things up and tackle those stubborn tarnishes, the Ball Buster drill attachment is your best friend. It makes the whole process quicker and more efficient, giving you that showroom shine without the elbow grease.
Other than stretching the product, is there any value in diluting the Nonsense All-Purpose Cleaner?
Diluting chemicals is all about tweaking the pH by adding or removing hydrogen ions. You're taking a strong solution—whether it's super acidic (pH 1-6) or alkaline (pH 8-14)—and toning it down to a more neutral level (around pH 7). This makes the solution less harsh but still effective for cleaning tasks, so you can get the job done without going overboard.
