Any chrome I ever polished, I just used a piece of cotton terry toweling to apply and polish, then removed it with another cotton terry towel.
If I had enough area to make the PC worthwhile, I think a polishing pad would be my first choice. If the chrome is rusty and pitted, it might damage a pad.
0000 Steel wool with some chrome polish will work wonders with rusty pitted chrome if you do have that problem.
I think the PC would be fine, but chrome can have some sharp edges and could rip a pad up pretty quick.
I'm sure you will be able to check that out before you start.
I personally like to use a dremel tool and/or power drill to polish chrome. You can get sewn cotton buffs to use with either application that tend to work great.
For larger areas, have you considered the Mother's PowerBall or Flitz Buff Ball?