Scratches on Unpainted Black Bumper

[killabyte]

Hey guys, I tried searching for an answer on how to buff out scratches on unpainted black plastic surfaces but the hits I got were only for painted black surfaces.

Do you guys have any idea if there's a product that will get rid of surface scratches on unpainted black trim/bumpers?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Scratches on Unpainted Black Bumper

In order to truly remove a scratch you have to level some of the surrounding material. A scratch is, after all, a gouge in the surface that essentially results in some missing material. The problem with doing this on unpainted plastic trim is that this trim is almost always textured in some way, and trying to level the area around the scratch will also level that texture, resulting in a smooth and shiny spot. So, in short, you may be able to somewhat conceal the appearance of this scratch, but you aren't going to make it go away completely. The deeper the scratch the harder it is to even hide it.

The same thing holds true with matte finish paint. The matte finish results from an extremely fine texture in the paint, and trying to polish out even a fine scratch will result in the removal of this texture and the creation of a shiny spot.