Plexiglass Rub-Mark and Scratch Repair?

[John Layton]

As I've been noticing that numerous small scratches and rub-marks have been accumulating on quite a number of my framed prints plexiglass glazings...I'm looking for ideas/recommendations/resources for repairing these defects if possible, as I'd like to avoid the costly process of plexiglass replacement.

While it looks like many of the defects are quite shallow, and might lend themselves to being buffed/polished out in some way...there are other scratches which are a bit deeper, and my thought is that there might be a product with which one could fill these scratches to make them "disappear."

At any rate, if anyone here has any knowledge that such plexiglass repair might be possible (fingers crossed!), and might also point to some resources for this...that would be great. Thanks!

[Kevin Crisp]

There is an automotive product called Plastic-X (or something close to that) it is a very mild abrasive and would probably work. And, surprisingly, certain car waxes work very well. Macguire's cleaner/wax (in maroon bottle) will very gently remove scratches.

There is a line of plastic polishes called Nova or something like that. I never had good luck with those.

[Tin Can]

Also try headlight cover repair

https://buyrestowipe.com/tools/resto...saAsm2EALw_wcB

[Graham Patterson]

[...]

There is a line of plastic polishes called Nova or something like that. I never had good luck with those.

Novus, possibly. TAP Plastics sell them in a rage of grades. I have used them with some success on a shower stall, but I don't usually worry about optical quality in that case.

[Jim C.]

There are plenty of products to take out very small scuffs and scratches, I use the Novus line of polishes.
It it depends on how deep the scratch is , scuffs can mostly be polished out with the Novus # 2 followed by #1 polish,
but if the scratches are deep enough to catch a fingernail lightly passed over them then it's a replacement.
Polishing deep scratches out means you do the entire sheet, spot polishing will leave a noticeable shallow wave.

Sort out the plexi, the good, the bad, the ugly, replace ugly, try bad, polish the good.

[Peter De Smidt]

https://www.amazon.com/NOVUS-PK1-8-P...s%2C128&sr=8-1

[Drew Wiley]

Sometimes it's more fuss to polish than to simply replace. But yeah, just go to some place like Tap Plastics and pick up the proper polish. They'll know what you need, and have it in stock.
I have on hand all kinds of polishes, special abrasive pads, and even expensive equipment for that kind of thing. But still, it's seldom worth the trouble. Easier to cut new sheets of acrylic and use the old scratched material for something else like fabricating darkroom trays, washers, dividers, lids, etc.

Something like automotive Glass Wax could be tried for filling in fine scratches, provided it's only used on the external surface. But always experiment with a guinea pig example before a valuable one.

[Paul Ron]

how are they getting scratched?

[Louie Powell]

Meguiar's PlastX - sold in automotive stores and used for polishing plastic lenses of headlights. Also used by pen makers for final polishing of wooden pens that have been given an acrylic finish.

Novus makes a similar product that is often sold in speciality plastic or glass shops. My experience is that Meguiar's words a bit better - YMMV.

Shake well, apply with paper towel, and rub in a circular pattern.

Micromesh abrasive can also be used to rub out deeper scratches. Micromesh is a form of abrasive originally used to polish out scratches on aircraft windows. Can be found in specialty stores such as Woodcraft. Always used wet (with water), progressing from coarser to finer grits, and then followed by using a plastic polish such as Meguiars or Novus.

[John Layton]

...I'm also wondering if clear acrylic nail polish would work to fill the scratches? Thinking that I'll find my smallest piece of acrylic and do a bit of experimenting!

A number of these sheets have such minor damage as to be basically not noticeable - but I would still not feel right selling prints covered by these sheets.

As for simply replacing my "damaged" acrylic sheets, a few of these are quite large - up to 36x48-ish...and being UV-protective OP-3, they are a bit pricy. I have even larger ones, but so far those are fine.