Scratches In Colored Plastic

[pool_player21]

My grandma just recently purchased a John Deere Gator. Of course it has a few scratches on the hood not deep but they annoy me. Any ideas on what to use to remove these?

[Mike Phillips]

First read this...

What it Means to Remove a Scratch


Then read this...


How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX


Of course you'll want to wax afterwards so then read this...

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

[pool_player21]

I'm kinda afraid to use scratch-x I guess because I consider it a product for painted pieces.The plastic is not painted it is just molded plastic.

[gb387]

There is a post on MOL where someone polished out a Electric Car (GEM I Think) with all plastic panels, not painted.... I have searched all over but can't seem to find it, maybe someone remembers where the post it. It might help you out.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by pool_player21
I'm kinda afraid to use scratch-x I guess because I consider it a product for painted pieces.The plastic is not painted it is just molded plastic.

Sorry, I had no idea what a Gator was, when I saw the words John Deere a guessed some kind of tractor or farm equipment with paint, by mistake.


I did a quick google search and found some pictures and then uploaded them into our gallery for all of you that also might no know what a John Deere Gator is, take a look...




If these are sold color plastic panels, then you're pretty much stuck with the scratches. The reason why is because usually this kind of plastic doesn't lend itself well to abrading with the goal to leave a smooth glossy finish. It just doesn't work very well.

Now I could be wrong as I've never worked on one of these units, but in order to remove a below surface defect you must remove the material surrounding the defect until the upper surface is level with the lowest part of the defect. This means somehow abrading/cleaning/polishing the material in a way that removes material but after you're finished, the resulting surface looks as good as the surround areas that have not be abraded, i.e. the area you work on has to match the original look of the factory finish.

Best thing to do at this point would be to contact John Deere and ask them what they recommend for products and procedures, then when you find out, share that with our forum as it might be interesting to others now and in the future.


If nothing else, sometimes you can improve a defect but not remove a defects, in this case you could try applying something like our M17 Plastic cleaner and try to make the defects less noticeable.

Let us know what you find out...

Thank you!