I polished liscense plates. Should I be worried?

[Desertnate]

Last weekend I took specialty plates off a car I handed over to a family member living out of state, and before mounting them on my daily driver I gave them a good hand polish. What does that say about my mental state?

In all fairness they had some rust streaks around the screw holes and looked a little dingy from 8~9 years on the other vehicle. The good news is a little Hyper Polish and a small, yellow, Meguiars foam pad made them look almost as good as new. Interestingly, there might be a clear coat on the plates as I didn`t notice any color transfer. Just a black pad from years of exposure to the elements.

[Coleroad]

Whatever I`m using on the rest of the car gets used on the license plates, and behind it too. Seems normal to me, it reflects on how the car looks.

[Billy Jack]

Last weekend I took specialty plates off a car I handed over to a family member living out of state, and before mounting them on my daily driver I gave them a good hand polish. What does that say about my mental state?

We`d be more worried if you`ve been hanging out here and did not polish your license plate.

[Sizzle Chest]

I do too! I coat them as well!

[RaydiantDetail]

Yup I polish em too! Usually same polish as on the paint or an AIO.

Sizzle - I have never coated them though. That is awesome. I will have to start doing that for my clients and call it out as a little extra service lol

[Farmall-luvr]

nope,,I do it to so either we are all nutz or it`s normal for people like us,,,I`ll go with the latter.

edit:,,I even polish up our dealer plates,,lol

[Setec Astronomy]

Wait--you didn`t machine polish them?!?!

Truth be told I don`t usually do that anymore...since I found out the hard way they stopped painting the plates here in NJ and went to a vinyl applique.

[SWETM]

I would be more worried if you had to start doing licens plates LOL.

I LSP them but have not polished anyone yet. Here in Sweden it`s law to have 1 front and 1 back licens plates. And where we get copies of the legal ownership papers on the cars. We can also tick a box when ordering new of these document. And they send new licens plates out for around 20$ for 2. So the maintance has never been a big thing on them. As it`s so easy to ordering new ones. And when I think of it maybe I should ordering new ones. Have not done that to this car since I bought it. It`s something I normaly do.

[Accumulator]

Whatever I`m using on the rest of the car gets used on the license plates, and behind it too. Seems normal to me, it reflects on how the car looks.

Same opinion here.

I haven`t had to correct them much, but I keep them as nice as the rest of the vehicle. What am I missing here...why wouldn`t somebody do that?

I have about 6-8 coats of KSG on ours, and even the oldest ones are in decent shape...well, except for scars from accident damage, and to me that`s patina that reminds me of some interesting experiences.

Besides the vinyl appliqué ones, IIRC you need to be gentle to avoid trashing the reflective finish too.

[acuRAS82]

I wash the plate, but never thought to polish or LSP them. I’m now ready to move up to the next level.

Thank you.

[Desertnate]

We`d be more worried if you`ve been hanging out here and did not polish your license plate.

Thanks for the positive affirmation everyone! My family simply laughed and shook their heads...

Wait--you didn`t machine polish them?!?!

I don`t have any clamps or a good place to hold it down. It was also far easier to grab the polish, pad, and just go to work than dig out my DA. I also wasn`t sure how durable/thick the paint would be. I guess I have a ways to go before becoming a true Autopian.

Same opinion here.

I haven`t had to correct them much, but I keep them as nice as the rest of the vehicle. What am I missing here...why wouldn`t somebody do that? ....you need to be gentle to avoid trashing the reflective finish too.

I have always cleaned them and when grimy, I`d clean them up with a strong APC. I was always afraid of issues with the reflective finish so I didn`t take a polish to one until now. These Illinois plates are grayish-white with black numbers, so I never really noticed how the color had changed over time until I polished them up. The are much brighter now!

[JustJesus]

You Autopians are a funny bunch!

[tyltan]

That means the ones posted above are normal ones. I need help. I didn`t polish mine.

[yamabob]

Should keep that kind of info to yourself. That`s a bannable offense

[gordonjuan]

As one of the LEO`s on this forum, I appreciate everyone`s effort in keeping their license plates readable. Makes my job easier. I`m with the others - we`d be worried if you didn`t.

Gordon