How to Remove Scratches From Plastic
Acrylic plastic is extremely versatile and used widely around the home, for glazing, furniture, picture frames, splashbacks and so much more. Unfortunately, life happens, and the acrylic may accidentally become scratched over time. If the scratch is under 5mm deep, with some determination and with the right approach, the scratches on your acrylic plastic can be removed.
If the scratch is deeper than 5mm, cracked or crazing, it may be time to buy a new piece. You can order this cut to size using our online calculators.
Unfortunately, although known for its shatterproof qualities, Polycarbonate has a softer surface so will scratch easier but you cannot polish out scratches in Polycarbonate.
What You Will Need to Remove Scratches From Acrylic Sheets
Below we have listed out the various tools and products that you can use to eliminate those unwanted scratches from your acrylic products and get them back to looking like new.
Light Scratches:
- T-Cut Scratch Remover (Or alternative)
- Soft Cloth
Moderate Scratches:
- Acrylic polish (we use Vuplex, available on our website)
- 800 & 1200 grit sandpaper
- Water
- Microfibre Cloth
Deeper Scratches:
- Acrylic polish (we use Vuplex, on our website)
- 600, 800 & 1200 grit sandpaper
- Water
- Microfibre cloth
How to Remove Light Scratches
Using T-Cut Scratch Remover (Or an alternative) and a clean, soft cloth, simply rub the solution over the scratched acrylic, working in a circular motion, applying firmly to make sure this gets into the scratch. Once removed, use another clean cloth to remove the excess product. If the scratch is still present on the acrylic sheet, repeat the process until the light scratch has been removed from the acrylic.
How to Remove Moderate Scratches
- First, clean the acrylic with warm water and washing up liquid. Any small amount of dirt on the acrylic can cause more scratches during the repair process.
- Then wet a piece of 800 grit sandpaper and rub it onto the scratched portion of the acrylic product in a circular motion. The abraded area should be larger than the scratched area.
- Use a piece of dry 800 grit sandpaper and rub it into the same area in a circular motion.
- Alternate between these for around 3 minutes. (Don’t worry – it will still look scratched at this stage!)
- Take a dry, clean microfibre cloth and wipe away any fragments from your acrylic.
- Apply acrylic polish to the sanded area (we use Vuplex, available on our website)
- Wipe off any remaining polish from your acrylic with a clean towel.
How to Remove Deep Scratches (under 5mm)
- First, clean the acrylic with warm water and washing up liquid. Any small amount of dirt on the acrylic can cause more scratches during the repair process.
- Then wet a piece of 600 grit sandpaper and rub it onto the scratched portion of the acrylic product in a circular motion. The abraded area should be larger than the scratched area.
- Use a piece of dry 600 grit sandpaper and rub it into the same area in a circular motion.
- Alternate between these for around 4 minutes. (Don’t worry – it will look worse at this point!)
- Repeat this, using a wet piece of 800 grit sandpaper again in a circular motion.
- Then use a piece of dry 800 grit sandpaper and rub it into the same area in a circular motion.
- Alternate between these for around 3 minutes.
- Repeat again, using a wet piece of 1200 grit sandpaper again in a circular motion.
- Then use a piece of dry 1200 grit sandpaper and rub it into the same area in a circular motion.
- Alternate between these two for a couple more minutes until you believe there are no more scratches.
- Take a dry, clean microfibre cloth and wipe away any fragments.
- Apply acrylic polish to the sanded area (we use Vuplex, available in our store).
- Wipe off any remaining polish from your acrylic with a clean towel.
For more information on working with acrylic, why not check out our FAQs section or contact us today?