Help! Scratches on Perspex taxi partition

Joe_Horner

Get a set of these:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/micro-mesh-mixed-pack-of-abrasives-prod819044/

Used for removal of scratching from perspex aircraft windscreens. Came across them years ago working on Lynx - they were much more expensive then because other industries hadn't discovered them . Use them wet with soapy water and you won't get any light flare even flying into the sun at 10000 feet

red_eye

1200 grit wet and dry to get the worst scratches out and spray the whole thing with lacquer. it will make it easy to clean off future vomit attacks

dasophster

marlot wrote: »

Caravanners use this to get of of light scratches on plastic windows, but it sounds like yours are rather worse

http://fenwicks.info/advanced_caravan_care/index.php/caravan-exterior-care/windowize-scratch-remover

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think it may be similar. The scratches are not that visible but in sunlight and with the light from the tv screen they are a lot more obvious. I bought a scratch remover from eBay and it does work ok but on other plastic stuff I've tested it on around the place I've had mixed results and also it smells strongly of brasso which isn't good in a confined space, sure the smell will go eventually but as my husband has to work pretty much 7 days at the moment it's a no go. I have been looking at the novus 3 step system though and it looks pretty good, probably won't need the number 3 product for deep scratches but it's good to have. I did find one company who specifically deal with this kind of damage but it's over 60 miles away and I'm not sure what kind of prices they charge if it's possible to do it ourselves then I'd rather that xx

NWdriving

I don't know if it is any use but there is a product called polywatch which is used for older/retro acrylic (plexiglass) watch glasses.

This works great with plastic watch glasses - the main downside is it comes in small tubes (approx a fifth the size of a normal toothpaste tube or so) which I think is about £5 or so.

From Amazon:-
Product Description
The plastic glass is very slightly dissolved and ground down by tiny abrasive particles. The edges of the scratch marks are then smoothed off and the cracks filled in with some of the original plastic from the watch crystal.

Hope this helps.

Nigel.

dasophster

Thanks again all. Have ordered and received the novus system need a good 2 hours or so spare to try it out. I've opened the bottles and it doesn't seem to smell of anything whatsoever, which is good. Think it's better to stick to something that is specifically designed for this type of partition and this product is, amongst other applications xx

dasophster

neilmcl wrote: »

Doesn't matter how soft the cloth was if the screen had hard granules on it then all you're going to do is move these around the screen and scratch it.

I realise that now, before I naively thought plastic was similar to glass in its properties. It doesn't help that the owner's manual for the TX4 is so vague on the subject of cleaning the partition. All it says is clean with weak detergent solution and a soft cloth and don't use ammonia based cleaners on it as it will damage it, it doesn't say anything else whatsoever. Call me cynical but maybe they're being vague on purpose so they can get money from the screens having to be replaced every couple of years (and for the tx4 you can't buy the partitions on the open market, only from LTI) xx

dacouch

Toothpaste

dasophster

Just an update! In case anyone needs this info in the future. The novus kit does really work though I would reserve the number 3 for deep scratches as it can make things worse and so is best used as a last resort when you've nothing to lose. Thankfully I tested it on a smallish area so no harm done. The number 2 polish is brilliant but the instructions are not clear-when it says leave to dry it means leave to dry completely so it is almost like dried up runny toothpaste, I found when I made sure this was completely dried to a crisp the results were so much better. I have found the very cheapest of the 3M/Scotchguard microfibre cloths best, they don't scratch but at the same time they effectively pick up any residue.I don't really bother with the number one 'finishing' polish as it doesn't seem to do much and is quite smeary, instead I found out by accident when I got it on the screen that the Mr Sheen Express mist is brilliant for general maintenance, cleaning and polishing of perspex, it leaves not a streak, gets off any dust and doesn't leave any type of build up at all. And it only cost £1 on special offer lol. Who'd a thunk it? xx