How Do I Get Scratches Out of Faucet Finish?

Question

A large metal dish I was washing in my sink ended up putting some scratches in the left side of the faucet base, but I haven't been able to get them out. I put one of those buffer pad attachments on my power drill, and I've buffed it with Brasso, Mothers Mag, red and blue rouge, and emery compound. The right-hand side is noticeably different with a near mirror polish, which I'd like to have the left side match again, and the scratches don't seem deep at all, but nothing seems to work for buffing them out. Is there another tool or compound I should be trying?

Answer 1

Based on the picture, they appear to be through the plating (looks like copper/brass/bronze showing, not just chrome) so they are not going to buff out. If you use something sufficiently aggressive to remove them, you'll have a larger unplated area when you are done. Plating is a very thin finish over a completely different metal below.

Theoretically, you could have it replated.

Practially speaking a new faucet will cost less than having it smoothed out & replated if you want it to look like it never happened. Practically speaking differently, unless you are an Architectural Digest photo-shoot site, a house is going to pick up signs that it's been lived in.

Answer 2

I had scratching in a base plate of a faucet. I contacted the manufacturer’s customer service and they just mailed me a replacement plate. Perfect timing before we sold that house instead of buying a new $50-$100 faucet. Many wonders ditch the plate to use a single hole install, but finding that person would be hard. Try Customer service- only costs you a few minutes of time and it might work.