Polishing car plastic: step by step instructions

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

Due to minor accidents or errors in the parking process, chips and scratches remain on the surface of the body. To scratch the plastic bumper, a slight collision with any foreign object is enough. Sometimes there are dents. Eliminating them is much more difficult. But a special technology will help from scratches - polishing plastic. Often it is necessary to process plastic parts in the cabin. Let's look at how this operation is performed, what tools need to be used and what kind of tools are needed.

What is technology?

By polishing, many people mean the treatment of metal surfaces, but not plastic parts. And this is true, since the metal is more durable. Plastic, unlike metal, is more brittle. It is from these considerations that the polishing of automotive plastic should be carried out using a special technology. Where acrylic enamel on metal can easily withstand stress, plastic will simply melt or deform.

In order to polish plastic parts, two methods are used that allow you to repair minor damage. This is polishing or other restoration procedures. For those who are going to restore plastic parts, it must be said that restoration work does not require special skills. In order for everything to work out well, you must try to treat the damage with suitable abrasives. Grinding should be done only with fine-grained sandpaper. For polishing, use non-abrasive materials and felt. All work is usually divided into two stages - these are the restoration processes with polishing and the polishing itself. It is understood as the removal of a very thin layer from the part to level the damage.

Also, water should be used for processing - sandpaper is moistened in it. It is very interesting that many home craftsmen recommend performing these operations under running water: it easily removes particles from the surface and protects against overheating. However, do not get carried away too much: increased moisture reduces the effectiveness of fine-grained abrasives.

Required Materials

If it is necessary to remove sufficiently large scratches, namely more than 0.2 mm, it is recommended to use sandpaper P400 or P600.

In the case when plastic polishing is performed to restore shine and eliminate small scratches in the form of a mesh, use P1000-P5000. If withthere are certain difficulties in acquiring materials, then toothpaste is also suitable. Naturally, the effect of such work will be slightly different.

Polishing with special products

Manually it is very difficult to achieve a quality result.

Experts advise using a hair dryer or a grinder. This will greatly speed up the process, and the result will delight you. Technologies of work differ from each other. Consider both ways.

How to polish plastic parts with a grinder

Even to process a torpedo, you need to spend a lot of time and effort. But polishing plastic is much faster with a homemade grinder. Some home craftsmen use motors from a tape recorder for this, but a drill is best for this purpose. A nozzle treated with polishing or toothpaste is attached to the end of the drill.

With such mechanized polishing, the main thing is not to put pressure on the surface. To get a spectacular result, the number of revolutions is important. If the process will be carried out using a conventional hand drill, then you should get a special nozzle with a lock. Also, in the process of working with a drill, it is important to ensure that the part does not overheat. Using an eccentric machine, it is difficult to constantly control the pressing force. Because of this, plastic parts melt easily.

Polishing with a hair dryer

Plastic partsexposed to high temperatures. High temperatures may cause deformation. But in order to be as effective as possible in polishing plastic from scratches, temperatures can help. So, if you preheat the part with a building hair dryer, this will greatly simplify the work. It is worth remembering that heating with a hair dryer will not affect the paintwork in the best way. Therefore, if the plastic is painted, this method is not suitable.

The hair dryer does not heat individual parts of the surface on which damage is located, but large areas. This is done for even heating. Scratches and other defects will disappear due to the melting of the plastic. This process is practically uncontrollable due to the unpredictability of the material: it is only a little overheated, and cracks with scratches will begin to float, but will not drag out in any way. It is recommended to increase the temperature slowly and at the same time constantly monitor the process in order to have time to stop in time. Such high-temperature polishing of car plastic does not always work, it depends on the type of plastic, as well as on the size of the damage. Do not expect that a large scratch will completely disappear. You will have to additionally treat a large scratch with polishes and a machine.

Polishing pastes

Polishing plastic at home, or rather its quality, depends on the right paste. Choosing the right one depends on the size of the damage. If this is just a small abrasion on the bumper varnish, then fine abrasive 3M 09375 will do. After it, you canprocess the defect of non-abrasive ZM 09376 - it serves for shine. These compounds are in good demand and reputation. Each number comes with a separate polishing wheel. For coarse abrasive, white is used - it is the most rigid. Black is the softest.

Preparatory work

For example, you need to process a bumper. Polishing the black plastic bumper will be more effective if the element is removed first. This way you can access each area. Next, the bumper must be washed with shampoo and dried completely. Then degreasing is performed. White spirit or anti-silicone will do.

Polishing process

The work will be done using a machine. A white hard circle is installed on it. If the scratches are deep, then they are pre-treated with P2000 sandpaper with wetting.

Next, a polish with a coarse fraction is applied to the surface of the plastic and at low speeds, with minimal effort, the composition is rubbed over the entire area with maximum translational movements. It is necessary to ensure that the entire surface is processed. Then the speed is increased to 2500 and the process continues. Do not polish "to holes." If you get carried away with the process, you can damage the paintwork. After completing this stage, the part is wiped with a soft and dry cloth, this will remove the remnants of the paste that interfere with the final stage. Next, apply abrasive paste 3M 09375 to the appropriate circle. The technology is no different from the previous process. Gradually, the polish is applied tothe entire area. Then the final polishing of the plastic is performed to add shine - the bumper or any other part is processed with 3M 09375 paste on a black circle.

Conclusion

This is how you can give a new look to a plastic part. After polishing, it is recommended to apply wax or Teflon to the plastic for better protection.