I am currently cleaning up my boat and have machine polished the entire hull (fibreglass) and it has come up a treat. now I really notice the fine scratches on the plastic windows. does anybody have advice on cleaning them up. should i try car polishing wax? any hints would be good.
started this one afternoon when i was bored and now i cant stop. nothing like playing with the boat between fishing trips even if it is cleaning.
cheers
Livey,
From my limited experience i havnt found many products that will do wonders for plastic or perspex windows but depending on there condition i used to use tooth paste to lightly polish old motor cycle windscreens. They didnt come up like new but anything left outside for 20 years wont, but there was a great improvment. This worked the best as its a miled abrasive but like all cleaners try in a small area first.
Hope this helps,
Cheers Pete
At one time the product of choice was a novis polish kit... but the price is a bit steep.
I spoke to my plastic supplier & they said they used mcguires car polish hwich is what the americans pen turners use to polish acrilic
I use a microabrasive polishing compound I get from my local refinish supplier in medium grade & it comes up realy fine..... then you can go to fine grade.
Frankly I cant see the difference on small turned items but on an acrilic screen you might.
I raised the product use with the supplier & they seemed to think it would perform similar to mcguires.
forget common or garden car polish... its too coarse and who knows what other stuff is in it.
the microabrasive I use has only abrasive, water and "hydrocarbon".... no wax no silicon.......I would lay odds on the hudrocarbon being white spirit.
don't but widex or spray & wipe anywhere near your screen.
cheers
cheers
You could try Polac polishing compound.
http://www.ferrofin.com.au/product_3_4_2_en.htm#POLAC
You'd need a low speed buff. Not sure how it goes by hand.
You'll find it at an abrasives supply shop.
Cheers,
Owen
The whole world's mad save thee & me (but I'm not too sure about thee)
Hmmm just wondering and probably way of track here but don't the polly craft boys wave a heat gun over there hull to shine it up and level out the scratches.
I got some perspex out the back might give it a try tomorow, would it work the same as plastic you think, or are the plastics miles differant.
I have used brasso before and it worked a treat.
I made a tool (Armature checker) out of 10mm perspex (I laminated 3 pieces), I hacksawed out the shape, then filed off the roughness of the tooth strokes, then a light sand and finally I used a soft cloth and brasso. It came up perfectly clear from all sides. Fair bit of elbow grease required though.
Good luck
Jru
Have always used brasso. Cant compare with anything else as never used anything else. Found it really good for cleaning up old discolored and scratched perspec. Just applied and polished by hand.
Ray
Would be worth doing a search on this site,as this was a topic just recently,which had lots of information attached.
David
WD-40 polishes up faded headlights so it might work on those windows
Hi, In the aircraft industry we use a micromesh kit it brings up perspex windows to almost brand new,its starts with a 400 wet and dry and gradually works up to a very fine [cant remember off hand ] i think it's about 6000 wet and dry, a lot of hard work but very impressive. if you are interested i'll try and find out more info on it.
Regards Roy
A polishing attachment that fits in the chuck of your power drill will make life heaps easier too. The one to use is made out of heaps of layers of circular material all stacked tightly onto a shaft (basically a bolt).
Dont get too carried away though as it can generate quite a bit of heat and you can end up distorting the perspex.
Good luck.
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/sho...+out+scratches
That is the link to the previous post.There is some great stuff there.
David
I have used a product called plexus on my perspex windows in the past which has worked wonders to remove scratches and also keep them clean... water beads off them when they get splashed better if they have been recently cleaned with it - it is available from most boating stores like whitworths...
More information about it here:
http://www.plexusplasticcleaner.com/frames.html
Frank
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