Do-it-yourself restoration of car interior plastic

In the modern world, plastic surrounds us everywhere, be it car panels, window sills, sunglasses or a mobile phone. The distribution is due to the fact that it is light in weight and easy to handle. Nevertheless, it is susceptible to damage, so sooner or later the question arises of how to remove scratches from plastic on this or that thing.

Most often, damage can appear on car parts, for example, the dashboard or doors, this may be due to the careless placement of keys, phones and other objects on it. It's also quite easy to scratch glasses that have a plastic base when they are carelessly placed on a table or in a bag.

Car interior plastic restorer - a review of traditional methods

Good afternoon dear friends.
It's no secret that over time, plastic parts of a car's interior lose their original appearance - they fade, become covered with scratches and stains. Every owner wants his “iron horse” to always look like new. For this, there is a special interior plastic restorer that costs a lot of money, and the effect will not always be long-lasting. There are ways to restore the plastic of a car interior from scratches and return it to its original condition without resorting to store-bought products. Today in the article we will look at several similar folk methods. They are simple and inexpensive, relative to specialized tools. Compare for yourself, and if you are lazy, they will do it for you - watch the video at the end of the material.

We remove deep scratches on the plastic of household appliances and furniture

A deep scratch can ruin the appearance of a plastic window sill, furniture, household appliances or other item. Polishing in this case will not give significant results, because it is necessary to remove a lot of material to level the surface. Therefore, methods are used to mask the scratch or seal it with putty, followed by sanding.

Repairing a scratch on a plastic tabletop

To remove a scratch on a countertop, first of all, remove burrs from the surface. Sandpaper grade “00” or “0” will help to do this. It’s not scary that traces of abrasive particles will remain on the surface: it will still have to be polished.

When the edges of the cut are aligned, you need to fill the void with a mass of suitable texture. It is best to purchase Displex paste from a hardware store. It contains plastic particles and fills damage well.

The operating procedure looks like this:

1. The surface is cleaned of dust remaining after removing the burr.
2. A little paste is applied to the scratch.
3. Taking a piece of flannel or a cotton pad, rub the paste in a circular motion. In 2 minutes the composition should fill the cut.

After processing, you need to wait a few minutes, allowing the composition to harden. If after the first treatment the scratch does not disappear, you need to reapply the product 1-3 times.

You can make your own scratch filling mixture. It is enough to dissolve a piece of the same plastic in white spirit.

Removing damage from the plastic of the phone

You constantly have to put the gadget in your pocket and take it out again. During use, the phone's body quickly becomes covered with a network of scratches. To polish the case, you need soft abrasives:

• talc powder for children;
• powder for cleaning teeth;
• baking soda.

The abrasive is diluted with a few drops of water so that the paste has the concentration of thick sour cream. The composition is applied to a cotton pad and gently rubbed into the scratch. Remains of the polishing compound are removed with a clean cotton pad.

When polishing plastic, there is no need to rush. The time and effort invested will pay off handsomely - because your things will look like new!

We recommend: How to remove scratches from your phone screen

Tire ink

Yes, yes, you heard right. It can be used to restore plastic parts of car interiors. In order not to waste too much money, we will take homemade tire ink; its recipes are described in previous articles. The composition for blackening rubber is similar to the composition of store-bought reducing agents. It also contains glycerin, distilled water, and alcohol.

I would like to immediately warn particularly suspicious car owners. The tire blackening solution and the interior plastic restorer use the same components. Therefore, you will not harm the interior elements.

If you don’t believe me with enough experience using this method, then experiment with plastic parts of the exterior or engine compartment. If nothing happens to them, then feel free to use it in the salon.

Preparation and use

1. We wash the plastic elements of the car interior. You don’t have to do this, but the effect after pre-washing will be better. All dirt and dust will be washed off from them
2. We take tire ink, store-bought or homemade - it doesn’t matter. Apply it to the surface with a sponge and rub. Store-bought analogues contain products with enhanced shine or antistatic effects - if you need this, use store-bought
3. Let it dry, then use a sponge again, preferably a clean one, to polish the finished surface.

Removing small cracks

The following tools allow you to quickly eliminate minor cracks and at the same time preserve the condition of your wallet. Their effectiveness is based on the principle of polishing and preparatory work should consist of thorough cleaning of the surface being treated and its further drying.

Wax

Wax is used to polish plastic surfaces. It must be used in combination with soft, dry cloth. Movements during rubbing should be circular. A cotton swab will help get rid of excess wax. A good alternative to wax is GOI paste or machine oil.

Glass cleaning products

Glass cleaning products must be used according to the same principle. In combination with a dry cloth, the action of such compositions is quite effective in relation to minor scratches.

Glass polishes

Products used for polishing glass surfaces with abrasive components are also suitable for plastic. In the case of small scratches, this method not only masks them, but removes them completely. Hydrofluoric acid can act as an abrasive component, so if there are elements on the surface that are not made of plastic or glass, refrain from using this option.

Polish for copper and silver

Copper and silver polishes can be used in tandem with microfiber or a dry cloth. Rubbing should be continued until the trace of cracks is visually invisible.

Household or construction hair dryer

A household or construction hair dryer will allow you to quickly deal with a minor defect. Be sure to clean the surface and dry it. Start heating the area with the scratch with a hairdryer, but do not hold it in one place. Wait until the plastic begins to melt slightly. Do not touch the restored surface with your hands until it has cooled down.

We recommend: Why a car accelerates poorly: possible causes and their elimination

Computer products

Tools for computer equipment and disks also demonstrate effectiveness. They are also convenient to use in combination with microfiber.

Polish for wood and plastic surfaces

Wood polish will also work on plastic, but it should be combined with Vaseline. The damaged area will be filled with this composition and the crack will not be so visible. Continue rubbing the surface until the Vaseline is completely absorbed.

Additionally, we recommend reading our specialist’s article on how to polish a car with your own hands.

Using Dye

Minor scratches can be dealt with with a dye designed specifically for masking this type of damage. It should be applied with a toothpick or thin brush. Polishing is carried out with machine oil.

You can find more detailed information on how to choose the right paint for plastic in the article by our specialist.

Fabric paint or masking markers

Fabric paint or masking markers are also effective, but require additional finishing polishing. Felt pens, if their quality is beyond doubt, can be quite expensive, but this method is very economical.

Silicone

To restore the plastic of the car interior from scratches, we will use a special product from the store. Let's read its composition. It turns out that it uses regular silicone. So why overpay?

We take regular silicone grease for car door seals and apply it to the scratch. We fill it with silicone, partially masking it. Its cost is lower than purchased car interior plastic polishes - around 35 rubles. In this way, you can “disguise” small scuffs from shoes on door panels or thresholds.

Important! It is worth understanding that silicone grease will not completely remove deep scratches, but it will partially eliminate them.

Then we apply tire ink and give the parts a radical black color - cheap and looks cool.

Foam from a car wash

This product is ideal for washing dirty stains on light-colored plastic interior elements. If there is a self-service car wash in your city, then you can put the finished foam in a liter jar - this will be enough. If not, then we buy it at the nearest car wash, it costs a penny, or we make it ourselves.

Why liter? Because if you take a smaller container, then after the foam “settles”, there will be little money left in the jar. A liter is enough to renew the plastic in the car interior.

How to use

1. We need to wet the surface that we will wash so that the dirt on it will acidify.
2. We take the remaining foam that remains in the jar, wash the plastic with it
3. Rinse with water

Restoration of car interior plastic. DIY + video

It's no secret that after a certain mileage, the plastic of the car interior (and the engine compartment) fades, becomes dull, faded, and in general, loses its original charm. Is it possible to somehow restore it, and do it all with your own hands? Or is this not real at all? It turns out you can do it in budget ways, which I’ll tell you about today. As usual there will be a text version + video at the end...

To be honest, modern plastic does not fade so quickly (the chemical industry works well). It simply gets clogged with dirt and loses its original blackness.

If the interior of your car is light or gray, then you notice black stains (or stains) that just... don’t want to go away! What to do? Clean, and on a budget. I have only three points that really work and have helped me more than once.

Foam from the sink

Of course, you can buy various interior cleaning products from an auto cosmetics store. However, the cost is sometimes not at all budgetary, about 300 - 400 rubles per “bottle”. BUT why overpay?

For many years now, on several cars, I have been using regular foam, the kind that is used in car washes (including self-service ones). Works great

You just need to take a jar, I take one with a large neck (and a screw-on lid), go to the car wash and ask the washer to fill the jar. Usually they always pour it for free. In the case of a self-service car wash , you must pour the foam yourself. It will cost really little, usually about 1 - 2 rubles.

After some time, the foam will settle, you will have about a third of a can of special detergent left.

Using my example, I decided to clean the plastic (restore its color) under the hood and then the door “cards” (in simple terms, the upholstery).

We start with the decorative engine cover:

• Let's get her wet first
• Then we take the foam (or rather, the product that has settled) and clean the dirt with a rag
• Wash off with water (more details in the video below)

The “lid” becomes almost black, very similar to new. Now you can tell me - “why can’t you just walk with water?” It's simple, water won't be able to completely clean the dirt, so it won't be possible to restore it to its original blackness; after drying, there will be gray stains again. Therefore, the use of shampoo is mandatory.

By the way, I decided to wash part of the plastic in the engine compartment and compare it with the part that was not washed at all.

As you can see, it turns out to be very effective, and most importantly, very budget-friendly.

Using a special pencil to mask scratches on plastic

Currently, there are special pencils on sale for masking defects in plastic panels of car interiors. This method of removing scratches is not cheap. Since high-quality pencils are quite expensive. A special pencil for masking scratches is a bottle with a special composition. By applying a special composition to the scratch, we fill its depression, and thus it disappears from view on the surface of the panel. For greater effect, we need to choose the right shade of the color of a special pencil so that it completely matches the shade of the plastic. To use a special marker to mask scratches, we will also need to clean the plastic panel from all types of dirt, using special detergents and rags. Next, we begin to move the sharp end of the marker along the contour of our scratches. After the marker marks in the scratch grooves have dried, we need to lightly polish the surface of the plastic panel.

Silicone

I talked about the door cards, I also washed them with foam. BUT there is one problem, at the bottom of the doors there are scuffs from shoes. They can be removed in various ways, including polishes - plastic restorers.

We take this polish and read how it restores scratches. It just applies silicone, fills the cracks, and they are partially masked.

So I have concentrated silicone, which I bought at a regular radio parts store (for 35 rubles). We take it and apply it to our “scuffs” and some of them actually hide. BUT it is not possible to remove the deep ones, this must be understood.

We remove damage to the exterior plastic of the car

External car parts made of plastic are also susceptible to ultraviolet radiation and mechanical damage. Therefore, they also have to be polished periodically. In general, the procedure is similar to the options described above (heating with a hairdryer, polishing with special compounds). But there are several nuances:

• External parts usually get more dirty and covered with grease films. It is worth paying more attention to cleaning them.
• The best results are achieved if the part can be removed. In this case, you can remove it from the sun, give the polymer time to properly cool and stabilize.

A specific task when polishing external surfaces is to remove the effects of mechanical damage from transparent plastic. These are headlight and turn signal covers.

How to remove scratches from transparent plastic?

During operation, the surface of the transparent headlight cover gradually becomes covered with a network of small scratches or becomes cloudy. The cause of such damage is a suspension of sand and dust flying towards when moving. Pebbles thrown by the wheels of a moving car can leave more serious marks.

blockquote>Transparent plastic is especially demanding in terms of polishing quality. When viewed against the light, all surface defects will be especially noticeable.

Several compounds can be used to polish transparent plastics:

• Regular toothpaste works well for minor damage. This is a cheap and accessible product, but the polishing effect will not last long.
• Composition for polishing jewelry made of precious metals. It can be purchased at a jewelry store. A small portion of the composition is applied to the damaged area, and then polished with a microfiber cloth.
• A mixture of Vaseline and wood polish ensures a gentle leveling of the surface. Polishing is not completed until traces of Vaseline have completely disappeared.
• A good result is achieved by using paste to remove scratches from laser discs. This composition can be found in computer parts stores.

We recommend: How to repair a thermos lid with a button or valve

Knowing how to polish transparent plastic will be useful not only for motorists. For example, this method can remove cobwebs of traces from glasses, watch glass, container walls and other household items.

Tire ink

Sometimes, summer or winter, I blacken the tires of my car, they look better this way (personally, I like the option with glitter). Moreover, the composition often does not contain any ingredients that could somehow negatively affect the rubber.

Often the “ink” consists of: Glycerin, alcohols, distilled water, liquefied gas and various surfactants

BUT wait! Can it be used on plastic? YES OF COURSE YOU CAN! After all, car plastic polish (both with and without a restoration effect) often contains almost identical components.

So you can safely process it. The black velvet color is restored - “WELL”! Moreover, there are inks that have an antistatic effect (it will be written so on the bottle), which means that dust will not settle much.

After processing, the engine compartment simply sparkled black, just like on a new car. YES, the plastic door trim has also been noticeably updated.

This way you can process everything in the car, both the front panel and the central one. First we clean and wash, then silicone, then black.

Now we are watching the video version of the article.

As you can see, very useful tips, especially now in the spring, when many people are selling cars and want them to look 100%.

Moreover, the price if you break down the costs: 2 rubles foam (taking into account that you pour it yourself at a self-service car wash) + silicone 35 rubles + ink (the cheapest can be found for 60 rubles) = 97 rubles. As you can see, it's very affordable.

I’ll end here, there will be a lot more useful materials. Sincerely yours, AUTOBLOGGER

(
3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Types and causes of damage to plastic

Scratches on the plastic of a torpedo are a common occurrence. They can be caused by various objects, or even the opening and closing of doors. This is due to the fact that plastic surfaces do not have an anti-shock coating, and the slightest mechanical impact leads to a flaw. Minor defects and deep scratches on the instrument panel spoil the appearance of the car’s interior as a whole. However, such damage can be corrected without dismantling the plastic elements.

Direct sunlight causes the paint on the interior parts of the car to fade. To restore such a part, it will be necessary to carry out a major overhaul of the element.

Removing damaged plastic using a lighter

Removing scratches from plastic using a lighter is quite similar to the previous method of heating it with a household hairdryer. In this case we use open fire. We need to briefly bring the lit lighter to the plastic panel on which there are not deep scratches. We run the fire several times along the scratch. You need to move the lighter across the plastic with extreme caution. It would be best to first practice this repair method on an unnecessary piece of plastic with the same structure as a panel in a car. After some time after using a lighter on the scratches on the panel, we will see that the scratches will either decrease in size or heal. Until the panel cools down, do not touch it. If using a lighter does not help remove scratches, then it is better not to use this method anymore for this plastic structure. You should try a different scratch removal method.

We need to briefly bring a lit lighter to the plastic panel on which there are shallow scratches.

How to remove scratches on plastic inside a car

To remove scratches from plastic in a car, use several methods:

1. Small defects can be eliminated using thermal treatment. To do this, use a hairdryer or lighter.
2. Small damages are removed with special restorative napkins and towels.
3. Deep defects are painted over with automotive wax pencils.
4. Scratches are removed from glossy surfaces with polishes and abrasive gels.
5. Cracks, chips and deep damage to the paintwork of the torpedo can be eliminated by overhauling the part.

Repair of corrugated surfaces is not possible. They cannot be polished or heat treated. When such elements wear out, they are replaced with new ones.

Restorative pencils and napkins

One of the simplest methods for restoring the appearance of a damaged part is to use special napkins, microfiber towels and a pencil to remove scratches from plastic. However, the use of these means to eliminate defects has a number of nuances:

1. Napkins and towels make it possible to get rid of minor scratches on the plastic surface of a car dealership.
2. Deep chips and scratches can be erased with a special pencil. These devices are sold in car dealerships. The advantage of this product is its effectiveness. The substance fills defects and gives the surface its original appearance. However, keep in mind that only an original pencil can cope with the problem. Its cost is high, and cheap Chinese analogues will be of little help if the car's dashboard is scratched.
3. When painting, select the pencil color that is closest to the shade of the dashboard. Otherwise, after restoration, black marks remain on the surface, spoiling the appearance of the part.

Plastic polishing techniques

At home, when starting to polish a plastic product, you need to mentally scroll through the plan and stages of the upcoming work. You also need to check the availability of the necessary tools and consumables. After determining the amount of work to be done, the most suitable method is selected. This event is conventionally divided into 3 types:

• thermal - exposure to temperature using a hairdryer;
• chemical method - GOI paste, polish, toothpaste and the like;
• mechanical - with a polishing machine or drill.

The first stage of plastic polishing involves assessing the damage caused to the product. Based on the severity of the damage, a suitable method is determined. In case of light scratches, it is recommended to remove the damage manually using sandpaper. It is better to remove scratches of medium depth using the thermal method. In order for transparent plastic, which belongs to optical products, to return its original light transmission, a chemical method is used.

The second stage is preparing the plastic product for processing. Plastic is washed with dishwashing or glass detergents. This is necessary to remove the top layer of accumulated dirt and remove surface fats. After preliminary cleaning and drying, the product is treated with acetone or a similar product to completely degrease.

Attention! When the polished plastic is framed by other materials, such elements are removed (when they are mounted) or covered with masking tape to prevent them from being damaged during operation.

Application of polishing machine

A polishing machine is a professional tool that helps restore the original gloss to the fullest extent. Working with a polishing machine is convenient and easy; this tool is recommended for car owners who need to periodically restore the light transmission of headlight glasses and other plastic surfaces. The main advantage of a polishing machine is the speed of work - in 5-7 minutes you can complete a volume of work that would take 2-3 hours manually. But, when working with such a tool, a number of conditions must be observed:

1. Before using specialized compounds, remove residual stubborn dirt that was not previously removed using degreasing compounds. This is done using a wet nozzle.
2. When the surface is almost polished, use 1 of the purchased pastes.
3. To restore glossy plastic, the product is treated using a foam nozzle.

Polishing takes up to 20-30 minutes. Buying a polishing machine makes sense for people who periodically restore plastic and remove scratches from plastic surfaces. The price of a polishing machine is low and it is sold in construction stores and points that sell power tools. But, you shouldn’t buy a device when you only need to polish one specific thing.

Polishing plastic surfaces with a grinding wheel

To polish plastics, grinding wheels are often used, which are mounted on machines of the appropriate orientation or in the head of a drill. The mode and speed of rotation are determined depending on the type of plastic - plexiglass or others. But, you need to look at the state standard for the hardness of consumables - electrocorundum wheels with a grain size of 25 to 50, carbide tapes according to the standard 2.5-3, felt, felt, cotton and woolen fabrics.

If the installation with a grinding wheel is stationary, then it will not be possible to process large objects on it - usually the wheels have a small diameter and width, which, if the machine is static, leads to difficulties with dimensions. When the role of a grinding machine is performed by an angle grinder or a drill, the choice of polishing is more extensive - the tool can be easily moved to the required distance and turned at an angle.

Attention! When grinding has already been carried out, a softer version of the effect is selected. Circles made of felt and felt are recognized as the best - when using slightly abrasive pastes, they achieve greater smoothness for plastics or high transparency for plexiglass.

Temperature effect on plastics

To get rid of scratches, you can use heating tools before polishing. The technique is based on the susceptibility of plastics to temperature. An industrial hair dryer is used for heating - it gives higher heating temperatures and allows you to soften even hard materials. The process of removing scratches consists of the following algorithm:

1. Cleaning the surface from contamination. Plastic that is dirty will not shrink properly.
2. The temperature is set to minimum. You can only increase it when it doesn’t help, but not to the limit.
3. The hairdryer is aimed at the damaged area of ​​the plastic and heated until the scratches disappear and the surface becomes matte.

If the temperature is too high at the weakest mode, you need to increase the distance between the surface of the plastic and the nozzle. An ordinary hairdryer is not suitable for performing the procedure - its power is not enough to melt the top layers. Upon completion of processing, you need to lightly sand with the finest grades of sandpaper and carefully polish using pastes or polishes.

Polishing plastic by hand

Once the surface has been sanded, you can proceed to polishing. This service can be ordered at specialized cleaning services, individual car dealerships or service stations, repair shops for furniture or mobile phones. Polishing is an expensive service, but this process can be done yourself. When manually processing plastic, you can achieve smoothness on small objects in this way:

1. Applying polishing paste - a small portion without impurities and grains is placed on a piece of felt or felt.
2. The polished surface is treated with circular movements with slight pressure for 15-20 minutes.
3. The friction speed is determined experimentally - after several vigorous movements, you can look at the changes.

The process of manual polishing is labor-intensive work, but in the case of small objects, using hardware options is not entirely convenient, especially if there is no stationary polishing machine or electric sharpener with a felt wheel. In some cases, the thickness and strength level of the plastic also plays a role - it is safer to handle thin and fragile objects by hand.

For reference! GOI paste, which is quite common, is suitable for manual polishing. This polishing agent is often used in the army for rubbing belt plates.

Overhaul of plastic

It is not always possible to repair the plastic in the car interior using simple methods. Chips, cracks, areas of faded paint - all this requires a major overhaul of the plastic elements of the car dashboard. Restoration is performed in the following way:

1. The damaged part is dismantled.
2. Thoroughly cleaned of dirt, degreased and polished.
3. Cracks and chips are covered with a primer.
4. The surface is polished.
5. Apply paint and allow the element to dry.
6. Cover with several layers of varnish.
7. Polish until a glossy shine appears.

How to properly remove scratches from gloss

Transparent plastic is used in the design of many interior elements. The disadvantage of this material is the rapid appearance of defects: small scratches and chips, after several years of operation of the car, literally cover the entire surface of the interior element. Removing scratches from car interior plastic has a number of nuances:

1. Before carrying out restoration, you need to wet clean the car interior. It is necessary to ensure that there is no dust. Otherwise, new scratches may appear on the surface during polishing.
2. The area to be treated will need to be thoroughly washed and degreased.
3. To get rid of scratches, use a sanding machine.
4. To polish the damaged area, it is recommended to use products that are designed for polishing plastic. These are special polishes and abrasive pastes. It is important to correctly calculate the amount of substance applied.

Abrasive pastes, gels and polishes, which are intended for polishing the car body, cannot be used when restoring the interior. They will ruin the part being restored.

Numerous defects, scratches, chips and cracks spoil the appearance of the car dashboard. Damage of this kind can be easily repaired on your own. To ensure that the repair process is effective and does not lead to replacement of the part, take into account the nuances of restoring the plastic elements of the interior.

Sanding plastic

Plastic sanding is used when it is necessary to remove deep damage that cannot be sufficiently smoothed out in other ways. Plastic is easy to grind due to its relatively low melting point. In the case of measured and careful work, the result will be a uniform matte plane in place of the deep furrows. To sand plastic, follow this algorithm:

1. Clear the workspace of those tools and objects that will not be needed when sanding plastic.
2. Prepare several sanding sheets of different grits.
3. They check the functionality of the grinding machine; when this tool is not available, it is possible to enhance the grinding effect with the help of a soap solution.
4. A plastic object previously degreased with acetone is placed on the work table.

Attention! Sanding is a leisurely task that requires care and precision in every action.

During the process, monitor the temperature, since overheating is contraindicated for the material. They gradually move from coarse-grained to fine-grained skins. After processing with each piece of sandpaper, wipe the treated area with a dry cloth, this will avoid defects and prevent flaws from being missed - plastic shavings sometimes hide a missed scratch.