Originally Posted By: Vikas
He used the same method with other chemicals which were supposedly designed specifically to work with aluminium and MMO resulted in lot better results.
Probably the oil in it makes it "shinier". As I said, the real polishing action is from the abrasive. I welcome you to try it out. I've got a lot of experience with both polishing/cleaning aluminum as well as scotchbrite pads.
You want to really clean aluminum, a paste cleaner with a wheel will make it shine like chrome. A light goings over with a scotchbrite beforehand (careful not to remove too much material) on a drill preps the surface if it is heavily oxidized.
The great part about the pastes is they also contain a wax usually, so the surface stays polished a lot longer than just using a spray on cleaner (most of which are designed to clean coated wheels, so not actually designed to clean aluminum, but clear coat).