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Interior & ExteriorDiscussions about the interior, and exterior of your vehicle.
This is a discussion thread titled "Interior Scratches", within the Interior & Exterior forum, part of the Technical & Vehicle Assistance Forums category.
I have heard that if you have scratches in the hard plastic parts in your interior you can het them up with a blow dryer and work them out. However I need more details about this process. Can anyone shed some light?
I found a way to get out scratches out of your HARD plastic surfaces in your car. Simply take a heat guy and heat up the scratched area. Do little sections at a time. Don't leave the heat gun on there so much that it melts or gets super hot. Just to the point where its very very warm to the touch and pliable. Then just use your fingers and use firm pressure and rub out the scratches.
On the deep scratches it may not completely take them out, but it will minimize it a great deal.
If anyone has something to add to this, please do so!
I found a way to get out scratches out of your HARD plastic surfaces in your car. Simply take a heat guy and heat up the scratched area. Do little sections at a time. Don't leave the heat gun on there so much that it melts or gets super hot. Just to the point where its very very warm to the touch and pliable. Then just use your fingers and use firm pressure and rub out the scratches.
On the deep scratches it may not completely take them out, but it will minimize it a great deal.
If anyone has something to add to this, please do so!
This principle is also exactly why you don't wax your paint on a hot day. This same principle puts scratches in.
That's an interesting concept for plastic though. One thing I would question is how it affects the long term strength of the plastic and resistance to later heat and UV damage.
It could be a *great* idea, or it could be shortening the life of the plastic.
One way you can get out scratches on hard plastic (like your wind deflector or headlight lenses) is to just use polish and finish with a fine polish that leaves it glass smooth. That's how you polish metal too (natural finished).
This principle is also exactly why you don't wax your paint on a hot day. This same principle puts scratches in.
That's an interesting concept for plastic though. One thing I would question is how it affects the long term strength of the plastic and resistance to later heat and UV damage.
It could be a *great* idea, or it could be shortening the life of the plastic.
One way you can get out scratches on hard plastic (like your wind deflector or headlight lenses) is to just use polish and finish with a fine polish that leaves it glass smooth. That's how you polish metal too (natural finished).
alan
I dont think it will effect the structural charatcteristics if you are only working on small scratches. If you have a big "gouge" you probably have to replace the panel.
I don't know if polishing will work as the plastic in many places is "textured"
I found a way to get out scratches out of your HARD plastic surfaces in your car. Simply take a heat guy and het up the scratched area. Do little sections at a time. Don't leave the heat gun on there so much that it melts or gets super hot. Just to the point where its very very warm to the touch and plaible. Then just use your fingers and use firm pressure and rub out the scratches.
On the deep scratches it may not completely take them out, but it will minimize it a great deal.
If anyone has something to add to this, please do so!
Thanks DD, I gonna try this tonight on a glove box scratch.
I have a scrape that isn't deep on the plastic above the front bumper. Its more of a scuff. I wonder if this method would work? What do you guys think?
Sweet...I will give it a try this weekend. I think using a hair dryer rather than a heat gun is probably safer. Only because you can melt the plastic quick with the heat gun. You guys agree?
Used the hair dryer to fix a deep 3 in long scratch on the glove box this weekend. I couldn't figure out what to use as "filler". I finally settled on using a crayola crayon to match the interior's black color then heated up the area & carefully applied it and buffed it off using a microfiber towel. Once the area cooled down, I used a non-shiny, non-silcone interior dressing & the scratch was totally unnoticeable. Even rubbing my hand over the area I didn't pick up any black wax after the fact. & No, I didn't get any pics. I was in a rush to fix it because I was trading the truck & the scratch stood out like a sore thumb. Anyway, I just wanted to say I tried and it works!
I'm glad it worked. Its really not designed for big scratches. Usually you dont have to "fill" the small scratches, you just rub them out with your fingers with firm pressure while its hot and they disappear.
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Removing Interior scratches in the hard plastic
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