Acrylic Kitchen Splashbacks

I think that acrylic scratches so badly that even if it looked good when installed, in a few months' time it will look dull and in need of constant cleaning, which will just make more scratches and look even more dull.

Definitely not as practical as ceramic tile.

That word "acrylic" simply means that it's made out of the same plastic that Plexigas is made of, which is a plastic called "polymethyl methacrylate" or PMMA for short.

I agree with the previous post that PMMA simply isn't durable enough to provide good service on a kitchen back splash. If you clean PMMA with an abrasive cleaner, like a Magic Eraser, you'll leave tiny scratches in it. If you clean it with the wrong solvent, like acetone or lacquer thinner, you'll damage it.

In my view, you'd be better off using a harder and more chemically resistant material. Plastic laminate, in my opinion, makes a pretty good backsplash material. Back in the 1960's they made lots of square edge counter tops and backsplashes with matching plastic laminate. There's no reason you can't use plastic laminate nowadays as a practical backsplash.