I found a shiny old aluminum pot in the garage. Its an 8 qt pasta pot with an removable collander and a domed lid from Sears. It's really old and cool, like from the 50's or 60's and belonged to the old woman who used to own my house. Anyway, it was in a box and looked really good so I brought it in washed it in the dishwasher and it turned dark. I've been cooking with it but it looks like it getting in worse shape every time I wash it. How do you care for it? I want it to look shiny and pretty again.
Take some fine steel wool and scrub the hell out of it. Don't put it in the dishwasher again. Aluminum reacts to chemicals like the ones in your dishwasher detergent. Never use ammonia in it either. And don't cook acidic foods like tomato sauce in it. They also react to aluminum and the metal can leach into the food.
Never put any aluminum in the dishwasher. That's why they turned black. Try rubbing it with baking soda, sos or olive oil soap if you have one. Just rub the olive oil soap on a sponge or fine steel wool and scrub the pots pans with it.
Use steel wool soap pads and don't put aluminum in the dishwasher.
I would think twice about using aluminum for cooking. It's very controversial. Having said that, you can clean it with vinegar. Pour vinegar into the pot. Put the colander into it and boil the vinegar. Then pour the vinegar down the drain. Cool with water. Then scrub with a plastic scrubber and dish soap. Rinse well. For any discoloration on the outside, douse paper towels with vinegar and lay these on the discoloration. Allow to sit for about a half an hour. Then scrub with a plastic scrubber and dish soap. Rinse well. As for washing the pot...hand wash with dish soap and a plastic scrubber. Dishwasher detergent is caustic and can discolor aluminum (which you already know.) I don't recommend Brillo or S.O.S. pads. These will scratch your pot. -
