Plastic polishing, has anyone tried compound on their rear lights

[Potterswheel]

Hi has anyone ever tried compounding their rear lights just to remove washing scratches etc. as you would do with your paintwork???

 

[Gazwould]

Maguires PlastRX or Farecla G10 .

 

[A4A4]

+ one for the Meguiars PlastRx.

Use it on the front lights also, used it on a MMI screen for light scratch marks (warning- it does take the ant-glare off) but it came up 100% better.

Great, great stuff.

 

[Gazwould]

That's it , after several years both headlight UV and MMI anti glare coatings deteriate .

Once correctly removed you wonder why they used these coatings in the first place .

 

[Jassyo06]

Any light cutting paint compound will do for light swirls on the rear tail lights they correct very easily

 

[Potterswheel]

Great thanks, I about to really clean everything before re assembly after bumper respray after parking sensor install and I thought it may be worth a try.
Bumper promised last Thursday, now end of this week due to 'covid' - to be quite honest it has been better out of the way

 

[Jassyo06]

Great thanks, I about to really clean everything before re assembly after bumper respray after parking sensor install and I thought it may be worth a try.
Bumper promised last Thursday, now end of this week due to 'covid' - to be quite honest it has been better out of the way

Think of it in this any surface that marks/swirls easily will correct easily...Headlights are a different matter as they take far more punishment than the rears plus swirls aint as noticeable on clear plastic but the same applies l use Menzerna 3500 on my headlights and the rear tail lights twice a year 250 ml bottle

 

[Potterswheel]

Had a go at this polishing stuff on the rear reflectors as a test, you can even remove the raised lettering etc. for a really smooth look. so no more polish etc. stuck in the text after polishing.
what do you think??

 

[daytonamart]

I had a little go at this on my A6, Hexlogic yellow pad and some Scholl S20.

 

[Potterswheel]

Fantastic - just shows what is possible

 

[AUDI_ADDICT]

Polished up the father in-laws headlights on his Volvo XC60 with a basic DA, LC MF pad and some Koch Chemie H8. Not refined, just cut. Credit to H8 for finishing down so well

 

[Potterswheel]

Massive difference - I bet he's chuffed
I have made a start and am pleased with the results - all by hand using 3M compounds

All ready to go back on.......

 

[AUDI_ADDICT]

Honestly, I was pretty pleased with the outcome too. Didn't think that it would come up like this without wet sanding, so quite educational for me. They still need some work to be perfect as the edges need more attention, but the real importance is that you can get great results (safely) with basic tools and products.

 

[AUDI_ADDICT]

Another thing to note would be that the pad I used got pretty clogged (more apparent when I cleaned it in the sink) with spent product and crud from the light. If I had more to do (ie. if I was working on a panel on a car) then the pad would need to be cleaned properly or replaced with a new one

 

[A4A4]

 

[Potterswheel]

This might be a really sad admission but I have also done the rear number plate, particularly all round the edges which can be quite sharp and rough for washing where the self adhesive backing does not exactly line up with the Perspex plate.
I did all round the edge with a smooth wet and dry (used dry) concentrating on rounding the edge off and then used the compound - result, the edges are all now a gloss and clear finish which will no longer catch wash leathers etc. during washing, I have never polished Perspex (or similar) before and found it quite easy, but I would echo the comments that it quickly clogged the paper and polishing cloths and occasionally you could smell the 'plastic' burning smell.