Wouldn’t it be nice if your plastic surfaces, windows, doors, kitchen worktops and all plastic furnishings were scratch free? Well unfortunately it’s not commonly the case, as with most plastic, acrylic and Perspex it doesn’t take much for scratches to appear. While of course it's best to avoid scratching your plastic furniture, you need not worry any more. This how to guide will take you through the steps of removal or repair of fine to medium depth scratches without the need of a professional polisher or any special tools.

Before you get started you will need to check you have amble ‘Wet and Dry’ paper amongst other things, for best results you will need a couple of sheets of different grade paper including 600, 1000 and 1500 grit. You will also need a bowl of high concentrate soapy water for lubricant along with a couple of yellow polishing cloths, brass and silver polish creams.

Wet and Dry

Prepare the surface ready for repair, this may envolve taking off the kitchen cupboard handles or simply moving a few things around depending on the object that's scratched. Once ready start with 600 grade, a medium grit ‘Wet and Dry’ paper and soapy water, gently and slowly sand the area of the plastic surface until the scratch is no longer visible. Try to keep within the immediate area of the scratch and don’t be concerned of the opaque or frosted look the sanded area will take on.

Keep it Lubricated

Now that the scratch has almost disappeared change the ‘Wet and Dry’ paper to a finer grade of 800 or 1000 and repeat step one ensuring you use plenty of soapy water to keep the surface lubricated.

Repeat

After you have completed step two, repeating the first step with a finer grade paper, dry the surface and inspect the results, before repeating once again with a fine, 1500 grade ‘Wet and Dry’ paper. The idea behind changing the grade of ‘Wet and Dry’ paper used is to replace the scratch with finer scratches each time.

Clean and Dry

After having completed step three, clean and dry the surface thoroughly using a little water and old towel or rag.

Polish to Finish

Now you have finished removing the scratch it’s time to improve the finish by polishing out the opaque look the sanded area has taken on. Using a yellow polishing cloth apply a small amount of brass polish to the area and gently polish for several minutes in a circular motion.

Arm Ache

Once your arms aching or once you have been polishing for five minutes or more, wipe away the excess brass polish and check the results. Hopefully as if by magic the shine should be returning.

Bring Back the Shine

If the frosted look is still visible then repeat with brass polish once again, else move on to polishing the area with a silver cream polish and fresh cloth to give the repaired area a full shine.

Tips

1) Don't let the surface dry out whilst sanding, it is essential that you use plenty of high concentrate soapy water as a lubricant at all times.

2) Skip to step three for really fine scratches, starting with the finer grade ‘Wet and Dry’ paper may be enough.

3) Polishing out scratches can never be rushed, take your time, and even when you think the scratches have gone continue for a little longer.

If you found this article helpful, then watch our video on how to repair wood scratches using a walnut!