Polishing Plastics to a Flawless Finish?

M

Manix

New member
I`m trying to get my acrylic headlight covers & polycarbonate headlights finished, but even with the best I can do the appearance always has a small amount of undesired swirl & doesn`t look new. The closest I have come is finishing with M205 on a white & then blue pad by hand. Haven`t yet tried a d/a, will soon. I guess the d/a will reduce the swirl from circular hand motion, but nothing flawless as the plastics are too soft & all foam pads are too coarse.

Is there a Polish that is significantly finer than M205? I doubt it as there is no need when it comes to paint.

thanks
 
Menzerna SF 3500 and a black LC CCS pad was able to finish piano black plastic trim to a perfect finish for me. Forgot to mention this was done with a rotary.
 
What was your full process? Did you wetsand the lenses first and go through a couple grades of wetsanding media, then on to a compound and now you are on your final step?

Are you just trying to do this as a single step of polishing them to remove existing swirls?

There are plenty of economical kits that have adapters for a normal electric drill, so you don`t have to work by hand.

I`ve also used kits by hand what went up to 12000 grit wetsanding and only required a mild polish to finish. That was time consuming, but the results were outstanding.
 
Audios S6 said:
What was your full process? Did you wetsand the lenses first and go through a couple grades of wetsanding media, then on to a compound and now you are on your final step?

Are you just trying to do this as a single step of polishing them to remove existing swirls?

There are plenty of economical kits that have adapters for a normal electric drill, so you don`t have to work by hand.

I`ve also used kits by hand what went up to 12000 grit wetsanding and only required a mild polish to finish. That was time consuming, but the results were outstanding.
Click to expand...
Hi, With my headlight covers there was no process, they just had fine swirl caused by many washes with a soft MF cloth. The hand polishing process it self was an improvement but still adds circular swirl of it`s own which can be seen when dry on certain angles. I tried the hand polish method as some pieces like inside my car simply can`t be machine polished.

I personally think its the limit of finest polishes available.



Those
 
Are the swirls pre-polish, or post? If pre, then you need more cut or possibly a light wet-sand depending on the type of plastic your headlights are made out of.

If they are post-polish and you feel they are being caused with the polishing process itself, then try diluting some M205 in water -- you`ll have to determine the mix ratio that works,
but I`ve found filling up 6-8oz of water with ~1oz of M205 and using that as `polish` can help on softer plastics, such as the b-pillars on doors.

You`ll want to saturate your pad first, however with polish then rinse. This is essentially the KBM, so maybe reading more on that would help you out :)

Manix said:
Hi, With my headlight covers there was no process, they just had fine swirl caused by many washes with a soft MF cloth. The hand polishing process it self was an improvement but still adds circular swirl of it`s own which can be seen when dry on certain angles. I tried the hand polish method as some pieces like inside my car simply can`t be machine polished.

I personally think its the limit of finest polishes available.



Those
Click to expand...
 
M205 might be a "Finishing Polish", but IMO it has "sharp" abrasives. I do *NOT* like how it works on plastics, not at all. Ditto for ZAIO, another product with seemingly *very* mild abrasives that just doesn`t work right for me on plastics.

HD Polish works OK though.

Adios S6- Ah, I think I probably have the same kit you do...little foam-backed abrasive pads? I`ve never used mine on anything Automotive though.
 
I just polished my entire Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Grand Cherokee with Optimum Finish Polish and only Lake Country Tangerine Hydro-Shreds on my Makita 9227C, and it turned out incredible..

I polished all the plastics the same way and had to put extra pressure on the Rotary to get the last tiny scratches out of the tail lights, and they all came out..

This product is very, very, fine and it will also leave an incredibly clear, very glossy finish if you take the time and work it for awhile..
This product did NOT introduce any extra marring, etc., onto the paint or plastics..

My process on the entire vehicle was 2 full passes, making each pass as long as possible by spraying the surfaces when they started to dry up
I worked the surfaces each time, until there was nothing left on the paint or plastic parts..

This product will not break down completely but will work and then when you let up on the pressure, it will polish but you need to work it for as long as possible to get the most out of it and your pad..

Oh and of course, I did not leave any swirls or holograms, etc.; have to keep the pad flat, moist, and don`t need more than 1,000-1,200 rpm to achieve this in my experiences.. Make passes all the way to the end and smoothly come back, overlapping that pass and keep going, repeating, keep the surfaces moist enough to allow you to continue, let up when you see you are running out of product, and it will be stunning when you wipe off what little is left..

My bottle of Optimum Finish was stored for a little while and it somehow got cracked and a clear liquid leaked out of it for a bit..
This is probably why it wanted to dry out on me sooner so I had to make up for that with a little spritzes of pad conditioner so I could get the longest work time..

I would say this product is everything that CarPro Essence is today but a few years earlier; (but it does NOT leave any product behind in the paint to improve it), and without the hassle of ruining all your microfibers because they get crunchy with bits of dried glass from the Essence in them...
Good Luck !
Dan F
 
Tyler@HDR said:
Are the swirls pre-polish, or post? If pre, then you need more cut or possibly a light wet-sand depending on the type of plastic your headlights are made out of.

If they are post-polish and you feel they are being caused with the polishing process itself, then try diluting some M205 in water -- you`ll have to determine the mix ratio that works,
but I`ve found filling up 6-8oz of water with ~1oz of M205 and using that as `polish` can help on softer plastics, such as the b-pillars on doors.

You`ll want to saturate your pad first, however with polish then rinse. This is essentially the KBM, so maybe reading more on that would help you out :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. They are Post polish swirl. I have tried the watering down method, but I thick that simply reveals the next problem which is no pads are fine enough, unless mine are simply getting a little harder from the tap water. I will try with a new pad.
 
Stokdgs said:
I just polished my entire Brilliant Black Crystal Pearl Grand Cherokee with Optimum Finish Polish and only Lake Country Tangerine Hydro-Shreds on my Makita 9227C, and it turned out incredible..

I polished all the plastics the same way and had to put extra pressure on the Rotary to get the last tiny scratches out of the tail lights, and they all came out..

This product is very, very, fine and it will also leave an incredibly clear, very glossy finish if you take the time and work it for awhile..
This product did NOT introduce any extra marring, etc., onto the paint or plastics..

My process on the entire vehicle was 2 full passes, making each pass as long as possible by spraying the surfaces when they started to dry up
I worked the surfaces each time, until there was nothing left on the paint or plastic parts..

This product will not break down completely but will work and then when you let up on the pressure, it will polish but you need to work it for as long as possible to get the most out of it and your pad..

Oh and of course, I did not leave any swirls or holograms, etc.; have to keep the pad flat, moist, and don`t need more than 1,000-1,200 rpm to achieve this in my experiences.. Make passes all the way to the end and smoothly come back, overlapping that pass and keep going, repeating, keep the surfaces moist enough to allow you to continue, let up when you see you are running out of product, and it will be stunning when you wipe off what little is left..

My bottle of Optimum Finish was stored for a little while and it somehow got cracked and a clear liquid leaked out of it for a bit..
This is probably why it wanted to dry out on me sooner so I had to make up for that with a little spritzes of pad conditioner so I could get the longest work time..

I would say this product is everything that CarPro Essence is today but a few years earlier; (but it does NOT leave any product behind in the paint to improve it), and without the hassle of ruining all your microfibers because they get crunchy with bits of dried glass from the Essence in them...
Good Luck !
Dan F
Click to expand...

Thanks I will look into that polish as it sounds a bit finer.
 
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