I just don't get it. Polishing

[Omak]

Specifically plastic because that's all I've every tried to polish. I read Meguiars is good, Flitz is good, etc. I rub and rub for what seems forever or short periods of time and it just looks scratched up.

Can the plastic polishes on their own make plastic shine?

Using an electric drill and wheel buffer with white compound (thanks gigster) I can make the handle shine a bit but the product labels make me feel as if they should give a shine on their own. Are my microfiber towels not good? I'm looking for protips, I see some incredible brushes out there polished like mirrors and I need help, thanks! I've tried youtube but couldn't find much in the way of anything but headlight restoration.

 

[azrichter]

No, polishes can't make scratched plastic shine on their own. Even fine, tiny scratches make the surface look dull. The abrasives in polish are so fine that they remove material very slowly and aren't able to flatten out those scratches without enormous amounts of time and effort.

You need to use heavier abrasives to level out the scratches, gradually moving from coarser to increasingly finer abrasives. These will create their own scratches, making the surface hazy, but the scratches get tinier and more uniform as you use finer grades of abrasive. You can get plastic very smooth and a bit shiny with, say 2000 grit sandpaper. Once you get to that point, the abrasives in a polish can buff out these very tiny scratches and make the surface appear glossy. Remember, too, that some materials are much easier to make shine than others.

I'm sure everyone has their own method, but I have luck with this one. If I have obvious scratches and gouges, I begin with 800 grit paper, then go on up to 1000, 1200, 1500, and 2000. If the plastic isn't badly scratched, I start with a finer grade. I use wet/dry sandpaper (you can get it at an automotive supply or hobby store) and spray it with water as I work. I've used up to 4000 grade sandpaper, which feels like rubbing it with smooth plastic, basically. Then you can use Flitz or a finer polish (many are suggested in this forum). I use Meguiars #7 Swirl Remover (which I happened to have to use on my car) and have luck with it as a kind of final finish, but I haven't managed a really glassy look yet. There are finer buffing/polishing agents than this one out there, but #7 is fine enough for me. There are polishes used for furniture or fine finishes on guitars that will, with effort, produce spectacular gloss on the right materials.

As with all things, it takes time, effort, care and practice, but getting a good finish on plastic is very satisfying. You can become sort of addicted to it, going around shining plastic stuff wherever you find it...

 

[NexlevMM]

If the handle has excessive deep scratches, sanding would probably be required to even it out before polishing. If its in better condition though, I've found a few rounds of Flitz and a tee shirt work well.
But you cant just rub it on there and wipe it off, It take a horizontal rubbing motion to really work into the handle. I'll try and take a video this evening and post on how to work it in well.

 

[azrichter]

If the handle has excessive deep scratches, sanding would probably be required to even it out before polishing. If its in better condition though, I've found a few rounds of Flitz and a tee shirt work well.
But you cant just rub it on there and wipe it off, It take a horizontal rubbing motion to really work into the handle. I'll try and take a video this evening and post on how to work it in well.

A much simpler and understandable answer!

 

[Gigster]

Sanding is critical to the success of polishing. If you don’t prepare the surface adequately, by sanding, you can polish for weeks and it won’t turn out like you want.

Several factors can be at play.

What grit are you starting at and what grit are you stopping at is another critical factor. For example, if you start at 400 and stop at 600 or 800, don't expect a mirror type effect during the polishing stage.

Are you skipping grits? The technical term is “going through the grits." For example, if you start with 400, subsequent grits would follow - 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, etc.. Keep in mind, each progressive piece of sandpaper removes the scratches from the previous sanding.

With plastic, always sand in one direction.

When you sand, make sure the sandpaper and the object you're sanding is wet. If you don’t have your sandpaper wet enough, the plastic/metal will build up on the paper. With enough of this buildup, it will start scratching.

How long you're on one grit vs. the subsequent grits is another. If you're on 400 for 20 strokes and 600 for five or ten strokes, you aren't removing enough of the 400 grit scratches.

I don't use Flitz (only when I'm applying paint to numbers and letters). Flitz is more aggressive than the products I use for polish - 3M Rubbing compound (03900) and Meguiar’s PlastX. Depending on the handle, the final step is a visit to the buffing wheel and white rouge.

All of my handles have a mirror finish, unless I'm looking for a different finish.

 

[hig789]

I use a buffer, then Flitz, then Maas, the Mothers plastic polish. You can take out some pretty deep scratches with the buffer and white compound. But my buffer runs @ about 1700 rpms vs. most store bought ones run double that, and if you get too aggressive at high rpms you can melt plastic pretty quick. But I use a spiral sewn wheel with the white to take scratches out and then go to blue compound on a loose buff. Then use the polishes and you will be able to see yourself in the plastic. Hope some of this helps.

 

[cb91710]

Polishing is just the final stage of sanding, whether it's sharpening a straight razor, buffing out a show car, or shining up a brush handle.

You need to begin with a grit that is just a hair finer than the heaviest scratches on the material.
You progress to the next finer grit, and so on, until you are done with the sandpaper, and then move on to rubbing compounds, and finally polishing compounds.

"Waxes" and finish "polishes" will fill microscopic voids and cover the item with a thin layer of material that takes a nice gloss when buffed, but they will not actually remove scratches.

 

[NexlevMM]

Here Omak. Forgive the sniffling and low voice as I was having an allergy attack but this was a quick video I shot.

Apply Flitz.
Rub on slowly and evenly with tee shirt.
Once handle is evenly covered, quickly work both ends of the handle with a clean end of the shirt in a doorknob motion.

I've learned not to grip too hard on the quick polishing portion, or i'll rub the polish right off and still leave the handle dull.

I do this several times until I get a good coating on the handle and a mirror shine in the light. This handle needed more work, but you get the idea.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gigster]

Excellent vid.

 

[DEW]

Use some rubbing compound that will take out the scratches.

 

[Holzie]

There is a product that watch collectors use to polish scratched up plastic and hesalite watch crystals. It's called Polywatch and comes in small 1.5oz tubes. This stuff is miraculous. I have no arguments with the methods other guys are using by reducing the scratches by finer and finer abrasives. The great thing with Polywatch is it seems to polish the side walls of the scratch giving a shiny finish without completely removing the scratch. I no it may not make sense but it works.