renovating old toys

bertha

I have some old Fisher Price plastic toys that I would like to clean up before passing them on. Any ideas about the best way to do this and minimise the scratches on them please?

LJM

stardrops diluted just spray on or hot water with lemon in it ive found this can remove even some of toughest marks,use microfibre clothe

nanokitten

what about sticking them in the dishwasher on the shortest coolest setting. spacing them so they dont rub together or placing them on the top shelf should minimise scratching.

bertha

Sorry, I didn't word my question very well. I want to get rid of the scratches on the plastic so need a very mild abrasive that won't get rid of the shine (what there is left of it). Being old Fisher Price, they have paper labels stuck on them which I would like to preserve as far as possible, so can't give the toys a good soaking. Thanks for the suggestions.

Olliebeak

Don't think you'll be able to get rid of the scratches themselves - those will be 'etched' into the surface of the toys.

You may be able to shift any dirt that lurks in the scratches with something like an All-Purpose Liquid Cleaner, mild bleach solution or something like Milton Fluid. You could try one of those 'cream cleaners' - they're quite a gentle abrasive.

I often buy Fisher-Price toys for my dgk's from charity shops and sometimes have to clean them up in this way.

Butterfly_Brain

Try some T cut - the stuff they use for cars, it helped with the scratches in my acrylic bath

valk_scot

In one of my other lives I collect toys..vintage Playmobil, to be exact. You can't get rid of the scratches on that, and Playmobil is made of harder plastic than Fisher Price toys. My advice is to give them a wipe over with a damp cloth, plus use a toothbrush and soapy water to get into the grubby crevices. The stickers are the important bits so the best thing here is the same trick you use on wallpaper...lumps of cheap white bread.

But TBH unless you're cleaning them up for the collectors market then scratches won't matter, as long as the toys are clean.