how to polish ?? Plastic ??

luckydawg

luckydawg

Active member
Joined
Jan 19, 2016
Messages
1,117
Reaction score
0
I have a 2017 Roush Mustang.On the rear of the car it has a very dark smoked plastic piece going across the back.I am 99.99 % sure its plastic.
But
Its is showing some signs of very light "beauty marks ", although the paint not so much.

Any suggestions on how to get those out when the get to bad to stand?
 
light polishing pad and your choice of polishes or all in one. don't forget to the tail lights too.

Here's a nice one I did this fall.

original.jpg
 
TTQ B4U said:
light polishing pad and your choice of polishes or all in one. don't forget to the tail lights too.

Here's a nice one I did this fall.

original.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow- That looks out of this world, that is the black/smoked plastic piece??

What polish did you use?
 
I did the giant plastic racetrack tail lights on my durango with a white thinpro and hd speed
 
Yes, plastic responds very well to polishes. I use Meguiar's M205 very often on tail lights and plastic pieces or all sorts. All in ones likes Meguiar's D151 or D166, or HD Speed also is a good option. There are also specialized polishes designed for Plastic like Meguiar's Plast-X. Overall, anything that works on paint seems to work even better on plastic. Don't need to spend all day on it either, it corrects faster than paint does in most cases.
 
Well that does it then
I will try the speed since I have some on hand
 
luckydawg said:
Wow- That looks out of this world, that is the black/smoked plastic piece??
What polish did you use?
Click to expand...

Gloss black yes. On this car I used CarPro Essence over the entire vehicle as I coated it. Essence works very well on B-Pillars and plastic like on the rear of the Mustang.


luckydawg said:
Well that does it then
I will try the speed since I have some on hand
Click to expand...

That will work very well too. HD Speed is good stuff.
 
Calendyr said:
Yes, plastic responds very well to polishes. I use Meguiar's M205 very often on tail lights and plastic pieces or all sorts. All in ones likes Meguiar's D151 or D166, or HD Speed also is a good option. There are also specialized polishes designed for Plastic like Meguiar's Plast-X. Overall, anything that works on paint seems to work even better on plastic. Don't need to spend all day on it either, it corrects faster than paint does in most cases.
Click to expand...

When you use something like M205 on tail lights or head lights, do you need to recoat them with a UV protectant?
 
JMak97008 said:
When you use something like M205 on tail lights or head lights, do you need to recoat them with a UV protectant?
Click to expand...

Yes, especially headlights. Taillights aren’t as prone to UV degradation because they’re made of a different kind of plastic which is more resilient.

On the other hand, the stuff they use for headlights is some of the weakest stuff imaginable when it comes to durability vs. UV rays. The only + is that it’s very clear in order to allow headlight bulbs to illuminate bright when they’re in new condition.

At least that’s how I understand it to be..
 
JMak97008 said:
When you use something like M205 on tail lights or head lights, do you need to recoat them with a UV protectant?
Click to expand...


Yes, when you polish, you are removing the factory UV protectant. I've found Dlux to be an excellent UV protector.
 
There’s different levels of polishing though.. And you can improve the look of your headlights by giving them a quik polishing by hand without removing the factory UV coating. [especially effective if your lights are fairly new and just need very minor cleaning] In this case, you’d simply be adding a layer of protection on top of the layer of factory coating which is still there.

If you were to do a more aggressive level of polishing/restoration then you’d be looking at re sealing on a level nearing that of the original coating that was originally on the headlights. And even then, completely removing the original coating can range from fairly easy to next to impossible even with aggressive sanding. [i.e. Corvette headlights]
 
Just as an FYI, I work in the optical industry and Zeiss is one manufacturer of the equipment that applies the UV Coatings to headlight lenses. Thicknesses vary but can range from 20-80 microns or roughly 1-3 mils.
 
Another good one is Optimum Hyper polish, great on glossy or smooth matte plastic trim.....
 
JMak97008 said:
When you use something like M205 on tail lights or head lights, do you need to recoat them with a UV protectant?
Click to expand...

Polishing will not remove enough clearcoat to need a re-coating. On the other hand, adding a coating or sealant is always a great idea to help protect the piece you polished. So I would certainly recommend you do even if it is not needed as such.
 
Whether I'm polishing fiberglass golf cart bodies, polycarbonate/acrylic winshields, smooth porous plastic trim on cars, rubber trim, hard plastic A B & C pillars, taillights, headlights, vinyl windows, or wood veneers on the interior, the best product I've found is HD Polish+

It's the best value and most versatile finishing polish on the market and even though it uses SMAT abrasives like M205 it finishes better than most DAT finishing polishes without being oily. There are SO many different forms of plastic on a vehicle and IME HD Polish+ is so amazing on these surfaces it could easily be marketed as a dedicated "Plastic Polish"
 
I am glad that I found this thread. I am looking to polish the black exterior pillars on the Ford Explorer and I was considering a dedicated plastic polish. With the Memorial Day sale I am looking at purchasing a bunch of things. I just added the HD Polish+ to the shopping list. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
I would recommend putting the most scratch resistant coating you know of on it when you are done, or never touch it with anything air dry only. I assume it's the same plastic as between the windows on my wife's F-150. That stuff scratches so easy, it's crazy!
 
I used the HD Polish + on the plastic pillars of the Ford Explorer and I was happy with the results. However I used a power drill with a wool pad and I now have swirls instead of scratches. I will go over it again with my Porter Cable but the scratches are gone. One pillar had an abrasion that I thought would never come out but it is now gone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top