Thread: Alum Oxide powder - an alternative to greaseless

I have become increasingly disenchanted with loading greaseless compounds and their staying power - having read about various techniques for reducing the 'fly-off' I have never managed to load my mops without creating a mess on myself and the workroom wall.

However, looking at my mop suppliers website I came across a 'mop cement' and loose aluminium oxide powder - the loading is really simple, you paint on the water based cement and then roll it in the powder and allow to dry. It creates a uniform surface - I sprinkled the powder onto foil and then poured the residue back into its container.

Experimenting with 180 and 320 grit, I would say it is slightly more aggressive than the comparable grits in compound so you need a light touch. I used 3" close stiched mops on a small variable speed polisher at lowest speed - with no noticeable heat build-up.

It's well worth a trial - my supplier in the UK sells small volumes - the only drawback is that 320 is the highest grit he stocks whereas something like 600 and 1000 would make a really good base prior to using polishing compounds.