Interior Aluminum Accents

The interior in my wife's 2007 Audi A3 has loads of aluminum accents in it, Im just wondering what I should use before I apply any sort of metal polish to these parts?

I have the following two products which I will used after I clean the surfaces:
-Blackfire Metal Sealant
-Optimum Metal Polish

Thanks in advance,
Rohit

 

I would just clean them with an APC.

 

Are you sure they are real aluminum? In my '09 GTI they are just plastic...

 

Its real aluminum....I asked the audi dealer and they told me it was. So should the APC be diluted or not?

 

You will want to dilute it. Unless of course you're using P21S TAW.

 

I don't think you want to use either Optimum Metal Polish or Blackfire Metal Sealant. Raw aluminum, including the alloys that I can think of, will oxidize relatively quickly. The aluminum trim you are talking about almost assuredly has some sort of clear coat over it so you want to treat it more like a painted surface. An APC should be fine, If you are using Optimum Power Clean I'd opt for three or four parts water to one part OPC.

 

fyi- Simple green, no matter what dilution will stain the aluminum, also have seen zep citrus stain Al as well. Usually a follow up with a damp MF with water will remove any residue

 

Im going to play it safe and use soap and water on it. I bought the blackfire just for the accents. I guess I can use it on tail pipes instead
Thanks to everyone who contributed to this discussion. I start the small detail on the car tomorrow.

 

You can and should use the Blackfire on wheels too.