Guys, I fucked up. I have what was a beautiful two-tone colander that looked nice and retro, with a shiny red finish. After some use, there was a very tiny amount of rust showing in places around the rim, and my dumbass self decided to soak it in CLR like I do with anything metal that gets signs of rust. It didn’t occur to me that it would remove the gloss finish from the powder-coated enamel.
Now it looks and feels awful, like it has a dull, pink, rubbery coating instead of the beautiful glossy bright red finish of yore.
Is there a product I can use to polish it back to beauty? It wasn’t cheap and has been discontinued, so I’d like to restore it if possible.
I’ve searched online but my Google-fu isn’t worthy, apparently. Thanks in advance!
The CLR did kill every sign of rust, so silver linings.
Removing existing rust isn’t the same as preventing future rust though. That it had rust at all indicates that whatever protective coating was there is no longer there. The dishwasher with likely accelerate the rusts reappearance
That’s a great point. The dishwasher itself isn’t usually the problem, though, right? It’s letting things air dry in there, so water sits in crevices. If you take things out immediately and towel-dry them, they’re fine.
I don’t typically wash things with metal crevices in the dishwasher because I’m too lazy to be hawkish like that, and cookware/lids and knives are strictly forbidden anyhow. If I have to work to restore this thing, I’ll never let it air dry again.
The hot wet environment will accelerate rust whether the water sits or not.
Plus the soap/cleaning agent is caustic as all hell.
If you need to wash it, why not wash it by hand? Look up some guides on washing cast iron. But probably hold off using it for food in the meantime, for reasons pointed out by other comments.