Last year we cleaned an aluminum Wilson livestock trailer for a local cattle company to remarkable before-after results with SilverBrite Plus MX.
If you’re in doubt as to what is the best way to clean your aluminum or stainless steel trailer, please call us or contact us!
If you have a Wilson trailer, or another trailer made from similar sheet aluminum that is bright and shiny—please use SilverBrite Plus MX. Don’t use the standard BritePlus MX. The sheet aluminum used in Wilson livestock trailers is not extruded or mill (raw) finish. While it isn’t highly polished, and it’s harder to tell that it’s considered a bright/shiny/polished finish — it will be damaged by the stronger solution, BritePlus MX.
Think Silver, as in Silver BritePlus, when it comes to cleaning trailers like Wilsons.
In the case mentioned above, we first brushed the trailer with a sudsing trailer detergent and then pressure-washed the exterior. At this point the trailer was “clean” but not anywhere near what it originally looked like. It was dull and yellow-brown stained.
Here is where the SilverBrite Plus MX shines. Without a powerful, but safe, cleaner, you can’t remove these stains without damaging the aluminum or stainless surface.
In this case, the aluminum trailer surface had started out bright and clean at the factory. It’s was never truly highly polished. But it was much brighter! Over time, road grime, ranch dirt, cow manure and rainy Oregon weather had taken its toll. And, without proper cleaning with a safe but powerful aluminum cleaner, time, environmental conditions and neglect had essentially “permanently” damaged the trailer.
In this condition, a commercial acid truck wash will remove the stains—along with any hope of a shiny finish. You can see from the photos how Silver BritePlus is able to cut through the dirt that is chemically bonded to the metal trailer surface. And return the trailer to nearly a like-new finish.
BritePlus MX will also remove the dirt and stains from this type of shiny-but-not-polished aluminum trailer. Unfortunately it won’t produce these beautiful results. It will likely do some damage. The point of this story is to help our customers understand the difference in applications between the Silver BritePlus and BritePlus MX.