Plastic polishing
- Thread starter leland
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When plastic furniture pieces started appearing in the late 60s and early 70s, one of the first safe polishes for buffing out scuffs was a moistened (not wet) knit cotton undershirt (which I think is called cotton jersey) with a tiny amount of toothpaste. Wennol or Flitz polishes are gentle enough to work on some plastic things. You cannot use pressure against the plastic and should try the polish someplace inconspicuous before launching into someplace front and center.
danemodsandy
Well-known member
My Go-Tos:
For fine plastics, such as irreplaceable Mid-Century collectibles, my choice is Novus plastic polish. Googling it will give you lots of places to buy it.
For ordinary needs such as you describe, Brasso (yes, the brass polish) is really great. Wenol is also a good polish, but it has a lot more "cut" than Brasso, meaning that it cuts through a top layer of metal pretty readily. For that reason, I use Wenol pretty judiciously.
The new, EPA-mandated Brasso is not as good as the old. Old Brasso had a kerosene base, which did not dry out as you polished. New Brasso has an ammonia base, which does dry out. There is a work-around. Use the new Brasso on a soft cloth, and when it dries out and will not "glide" as you polish, squirt some lighter fluid onto the cloth. This will re-moisten the Brasso - with something that doesn't dry out right away.
Hope this helps.
For fine plastics, such as irreplaceable Mid-Century collectibles, my choice is Novus plastic polish. Googling it will give you lots of places to buy it.
For ordinary needs such as you describe, Brasso (yes, the brass polish) is really great. Wenol is also a good polish, but it has a lot more "cut" than Brasso, meaning that it cuts through a top layer of metal pretty readily. For that reason, I use Wenol pretty judiciously.
The new, EPA-mandated Brasso is not as good as the old. Old Brasso had a kerosene base, which did not dry out as you polished. New Brasso has an ammonia base, which does dry out. There is a work-around. Use the new Brasso on a soft cloth, and when it dries out and will not "glide" as you polish, squirt some lighter fluid onto the cloth. This will re-moisten the Brasso - with something that doesn't dry out right away.
Hope this helps.
Sandy is right, Brasso works very well. I've used it many times myself. Mothers also makes a product for polishing plastic headlight lenses that I've been using lately and it should work on the shelves as well. But if you're trying to remove scratches from the surface of the plastic, don't be afraid to use 1500 to 3000 grit wet sand paper(the grey stuff) first, and use it wet while frequently rinsing it in a bucket of water or under the tap. I just re-polished the headlight lenses on my Dodge Intrepid this past weekend using this method and they look as good as new.
