Using Solvent to Clean Plastic
April 18, 2004 1:00 AM Subscribe
I used a solvent to clean the plastic that protects the instrument panel in my car - the plastic has gone milky and now it is very difficult to see how speedy I am driving. Is there any way to reverse the damage done? [By the way, the damage looks the same as when I cleaned a CD jewel case with a spray cleaner]
Best answer: meech, there are only two ways to fix the damage you did. The first is to replace it. Go to a junk yard and find a replacement, you may have to look for one. Even the low tech world of junkyards has entered the age of the internet.
Your second option is to repolish it. You'll have to remove it from the console and find a flat surface to work on. I've never polished anything that size or flat and only infrequently polished anything plastic. In grade school my form of geekiness was lapidary.
Your best chances at not failing would probably be by finding a large flat block of wood and getting some fine sandpaper. Try starting off with 400 grit, then 600, then maybe 1200 grit. Wrap the sandpaper around the block of wood and staple it around the back. I think you will have to do this under running water too.
The idea is that you're going to be putting scratches into the surface of the plastic but each successive application ends up with smaller and smaller scratches. You'll eventually need a polishing compound. It turns out that auto polish may work seeing as the people at that link use sand paper and autopolish to make replacement lamp coverings on a miata. There's also commercial plastic polishing kits available for not too much money.
If I were you I'd test it out in a non critical area first (maybe the edge that's normally concealed by the console)
Good luck! Try a different means of cleaning your car next time.
posted by substrate at 6:38 AM on April 18, 2004
Your second option is to repolish it. You'll have to remove it from the console and find a flat surface to work on. I've never polished anything that size or flat and only infrequently polished anything plastic. In grade school my form of geekiness was lapidary.
Your best chances at not failing would probably be by finding a large flat block of wood and getting some fine sandpaper. Try starting off with 400 grit, then 600, then maybe 1200 grit. Wrap the sandpaper around the block of wood and staple it around the back. I think you will have to do this under running water too.
The idea is that you're going to be putting scratches into the surface of the plastic but each successive application ends up with smaller and smaller scratches. You'll eventually need a polishing compound. It turns out that auto polish may work seeing as the people at that link use sand paper and autopolish to make replacement lamp coverings on a miata. There's also commercial plastic polishing kits available for not too much money.
If I were you I'd test it out in a non critical area first (maybe the edge that's normally concealed by the console)
Good luck! Try a different means of cleaning your car next time.
posted by substrate at 6:38 AM on April 18, 2004
Ok, wait before you go off polishing or melting down the plastic.
My wife did the same thing last year... she wiped the plastic cover over the gauge cluster (on her brand new car, no less..) with some sort of heavy duty cleaner and Rain-X.
Yeah, I don't know why. She just did. Anyway, it was very cloudy for a few months, but then started to clear up. A year later, there is no obvious sign that it ever happened. Maybe I just got lucky, and some supernatural forces took place... but mine cleared up just fine.
posted by bradth27 at 8:18 AM on April 18, 2004
My wife did the same thing last year... she wiped the plastic cover over the gauge cluster (on her brand new car, no less..) with some sort of heavy duty cleaner and Rain-X.
Yeah, I don't know why. She just did. Anyway, it was very cloudy for a few months, but then started to clear up. A year later, there is no obvious sign that it ever happened. Maybe I just got lucky, and some supernatural forces took place... but mine cleared up just fine.
posted by bradth27 at 8:18 AM on April 18, 2004
there's a product for removing scratches from cds - it fills in the scratch with something of the same refractive index, i believe. it's possible it would work here (you'd have to get the plastic flat, and pour this stuff over until it formed a flat surface, i guess...)
bradth27 - could it be that the cumulative cleanings over the months polished it?
posted by andrew cooke at 9:54 AM on April 18, 2004
bradth27 - could it be that the cumulative cleanings over the months polished it?
posted by andrew cooke at 9:54 AM on April 18, 2004
Buy a new one (or used if you can find one). Melting the plastic will not work unless you are very skilled in the application of the heat and you will almost certainly destroy the plastic if you are not. Polishing will result in (at best) a wavy surface that is almost-but-not-quite transparent and will most likely take several hours of work. Either option will require the removal of the instrument panel from the car and, hopefully, the face of the panel can be detached from the instrument cluster itself, but it is likely that the whole cluster is manufactured as one and a great deal of work will be required if you want to replace just the plastic.
If you just want to make the plastic transparent enough to be able to (more or less) read the instruments and don't mind having a reminder of your mistake in front of you every time you drive, you could try the application of car polish (not cutting compound) and huge quantities of elbow grease - you could do this with the panel in place. Just work on polishing the bits that you actually need to see through.
posted by dg at 6:02 PM on April 18, 2004
If you just want to make the plastic transparent enough to be able to (more or less) read the instruments and don't mind having a reminder of your mistake in front of you every time you drive, you could try the application of car polish (not cutting compound) and huge quantities of elbow grease - you could do this with the panel in place. Just work on polishing the bits that you actually need to see through.
posted by dg at 6:02 PM on April 18, 2004
If this is anything like what I did (armor-all wipes, oops), there's a chance you can clean it. I left it for a very long time hoping it would clear, but no luck. I googled this a while back and the product I found recommended on various message boards was Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Professional Plastic Cleaner #17 and Plastic Polisher #10. (kit available here). I couldn't find it locally, and I'm too cheap to pay for shipping, but I found a similar (admittedly cheaper and probably lower quality) product at autozone. It didn't clear it up completely, but i can at least read the instruments.
posted by jheiz at 11:05 PM on April 18, 2004
posted by jheiz at 11:05 PM on April 18, 2004
There are specialty clear-plastic polishing compounds available. I know: I spent a week polishing out damage I did to a helicopter window during a summer job.
I figure my stupid teenage fuckups in that company probably cost them twice what they paid me in wages. I'm forever grateful to them!
Other than some distortion, the plexi was left as clear as new. There were literally no visible scratches.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:52 AM on April 19, 2004
I figure my stupid teenage fuckups in that company probably cost them twice what they paid me in wages. I'm forever grateful to them!
Other than some distortion, the plexi was left as clear as new. There were literally no visible scratches.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:52 AM on April 19, 2004
I first enountered Meguiar's Mirror Glaze at a helicopter shop too. Fabulous for helmet faceshields as well. I'd certainly give it a go.
posted by cairnish at 2:42 PM on April 19, 2004
posted by cairnish at 2:42 PM on April 19, 2004
Response by poster: Substrate, your answer was great but seeing as I have trouble sometimes opening doors, I opted short-term for shepd's oil solution which is currently working brilliantly and hope that bradth27's experience applies to me. Otherwise it's on to some of the products you others recommended. Thanks everyone.
posted by meech at 3:51 PM on April 19, 2004
posted by meech at 3:51 PM on April 19, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you're insane you could try a butane torch to re-melt the surface, but most likely that would completely ruin it. Don't do it.
posted by shepd at 1:11 AM on April 18, 2004