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Just wondering what to use to remove scratches from door panels and other plastic trim pieces such as in the trunk that get scratched up. Would ScratchX work on this at all? I know it is for the exterrior, but I do not know what else to try. Is there an interrior version of ScratchX? HELP!
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I am guessing that you are going to be working by hand. I don't have time to search, but I remeber seeing after about 5 applications of Scratch X by hand, that some decent sized scracthes were removed from a vehicle. Remember this is working by hand, if you were working by PC, the defects would be easier to remove. On your interior, do you have scuffs?Schotography -
Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
If the panels & trim are smooth, I'd suggest PlastX. However if they're textured, I'm not sure what can be done for them. I'm sure someone more experienced with this will chime in...."No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master." --Hunter S. ThompsonComment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I guess I need to read the whole thing next time
SchotographyComment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I will have to take a look at PlastX - I didn't know there was such a thing? These are small scuffs/scratches on the lower door pannel where your shoe hits on the way in/out. I also have some small scratches in the trunk trim that I would like to remove. The trim is black so these really show up. I have tried a couple of cleaners, but they do no good.Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
That sort of plastic isnt something you can usualy remove swirls from very well. Dressings can sometimes hide them a bit.2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR BlueComment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I agree. Scratches in hard plastic are forever. The best that you can hope to do is to mask them a bit.Originally posted by Murr1525 View Post
Tom
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
Depending on the severity of these scuffs/scratches, the scuffs can usually be removed. More often than not, the scuffs are the result of your shoe's sole material being left behind on the door panel itself. Therefore, APC and either a soft bristled toothbrush or a medium-stiffness paintbrush would do the trick. Spray some APC on the affected area and with small circular motions under light to moderate pressure (all interior plastics are of different hardnesses, and their suseptibility to scratching also differs), the scuffs should disappear. It make take a couple of passes, or a couple of "rounds" of this process for the scuff to disappear. Do a TEST SPOT in an inconspicuous location first to see whether discoloration of the plastic and/or scratching will occur.Originally posted by Scott View Post
Sometimes merely a damp cloth and some elbow grease works great too!Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I hadn't thought of using a soft brush. I will give that a try!Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
This question is one of the reasons we wrote this article,
What it means to remove a scratch out of anything...
"Some materials and/or surface coatings don't lend themselves well to being abraded"
In order to remove a scratch out of anything, metal, plastic glass, paint, etc. You must remove material around the scratch until the surface is level or equal to the lowest depths of the scratch or scratches.
The below diagram if for paint, the the same thing applies to just about an surface material or coating.
In essences, you don't really remove a scratch, you remove material around a scratch.
Then the big question is, is the material or coating workable, as in can you abrade small particles of it and leave behind an original looking surface. For example, some things you can abrade, (remove the scratch), but you can never completely remove all of your abrading marks, thus you can't really fix the problem, all you can do is exchange one set of scratches of a different set of scratches.
The next questions is, how thick is the surface material you're working on or the coating. You are limited to what you can do by the thickness of these to things, (surface coating or surface material), and whether or not this surface is workable.
Sometimes you don't know what you can so until you try. It's always a good idea to test your choice of products, applicator materials and application process, (By hand or by machine), to an inconspicuous area. If you cannot make a small area look good with your product, applicator and process, you will not be able to make the entire surface look good. It's always a good idea to test first and error on the side of caution, versus make a mistake you cannot undo.Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
hey mike, i remember asking that at the 8thcivic.com meguiars meet and you gave us this bottle called scuff remover... is meguiars not producing that anymore? Cause last time i saw that at work, it did the trick removing the scuffs out of door panels made by shoes and such.Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
I tried using a soft brush, but that didn't seemd to do a thing. I bought some NXT interior treatment this weekend. If/when it ever warms up I will give it a try. Very disappointing in a 2006 vehicle with only 15K miles to have these kinds of scuffs/scratches on the door panels!Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
How did they get there?Originally posted by Scott View PostComment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
They were there when I bought it. I really thought that I could get them out, somehow! I hope the NXT will cover them some. If it gets up in the 50's this weekend, I will probably give it a try in the garage and see if it helps cover them up. I didn't really look at the bottle too close, but I assume that it has some sort of cleaning agent that might do the trick.Comment
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Re: Removing Scratches From Door Panels
Just to clarify, what exactly is the material you're working on?
Plastic? As is pebble textured plastic? (rigid)
Vinyl? As in a vinyl covered panel? (soft and flexible)
Paint? Like your car's paint but on the inside, lower portion of the doorComment
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