Plexiglass, also known as acrylic, is a plastic with many advantages. Unfortunately, it also has a disadvantage compared to glass: it is sensitive to scratching. It is relatively easy to remove scratches from acrylic plates, and with proper maintenance, acrylic resins can also remain beautiful for a long time. In this article, we explain in detail how to remove scratches from acrylic boards and how to best retain this plastic.
Different types of acrylic-different polishing methods
There are two types of acrylic boards: cast and extruded acrylic. The latter version is also called cheap acrylic or acrylic XT and is more difficult to process than cast acrylic. It also means that it is more difficult to polish, at least if you want to grind with a machine. We recommend that you manually polish and squeeze the acrylic. The best way is to use microfiber cloth and special polishing agent. You can also use these polishes on machine polishers. For machine polishing, we recommend using a polished wool or wool pad as the drill.
Step 1-cleaning the surface
The surface must be cleaned thoroughly before repairing the scratch. Make a warm soapy water solution with household soap (green soap) and clean the entire surface of the acrylic board with a microfiber cloth. Any dirt and dust residue will create new scratches during the polishing process. Save the soap for future use!
Step 2-assess the depth of the scratch
Very carefully, run your nails on the scratches you want to repair. If your nails are caught, even if it is only slight, it is necessary to wipe off the scratches. If your nails are not caught, you can proceed to step 5 immediately.
Step 3-wipe away the scratches
For scratching, we use waterproof sandpaper. This is a type of sandpaper with fine particles. The sandpaper or surface must be wet during the sanding process. Starting at 1000 grit, wipe off the scratches from the acrylic sheet. Repeat the test with your nails and feel if the scratches really disappeared. When the scratch disappears, use a slightly finer particle to sand a larger area, preferably particle 2500. Keep the surface moist while sanding!
Step 4-thoroughly clean the surface
Rinse away any abrasive debris with the soapy water you prepared earlier. Do not dry the surface with the same cloth, but use a clean, dry cloth.
Step 5-erase scratches and surfaces
Apply a small amount of Xerapol / Quixx or Zvizzer Heavy cutting polish on the surface of the acrylic sheet, and then polish manually from side to side with a splicing tool. Use a cloth / polishing machine to continuously evaluate the results and do not stay in one place for too long. The polished portion was occasionally wiped with a damp cloth and evaluated for gloss. If the scratches are no longer visible, you can start polishing.
Step 6-post polishing
Post-polishing means that you can give a uniform gloss to the entire surface again. You can do this with Zvizzer Fine cut polish. Clean the surface thoroughly with a damp cloth, then wipe dry with a dry cloth. Apply the polish to the surface (a small dot about 1 cent everywhere) and start polishing. If you do this manually, use a different cloth than the one used for polishing. If you use a machine to do this, use a polished disc! Be careful after polishing the machine and keep the machine moving continuously. Acrylic is very sensitive to thermal development!
Step 7-save
If the surface of acrylic is shiny again, you naturally want to keep it beautiful for as long as possible. We recommend that you use Burnus. After treatment with this cleaning and preservative, the surface remains beautiful for longer and remains antistatic. Because beauty must remain beautiful.