Does anyone know of a buffing or rubbing compound that can be used to remove scratches from the clear plastic part of a microwave oven door. We just got our new combination MW/ electric oven installed and noticed sometime between storing the unit in our garage and installing in the kitchen remodel about three slight scratches got added to the otherwise beautiful unit.
Hope someone has had success in removing similar problems without having to just replace the whole thing.
thanks,
Magnum
How about polish compounds used in automotive work? I've used "rubbing compound" to take out small scratches in plastics. Go gently...
MW doors are replaceable without having to replace the whole thing.
Bob
woah woah woah... be careful about that rubbing compound... it tends to make a tremendous amount of scratches on plastic the one time I tried it... on polycarbonate. Which, if memory serves me right, is the same stuff they make CD's out of, and probably Microwave doors.
Try using some basic toothpaste (not the gel type, you want the cheapo type that has pumice in it) and 'polish' only the scratched area. If it's too deep, that won't work too well. I know this method works on scratched CD's quite well.
It may be worth a shot, because it'll only cost you a quarter. You
*could* try some clear-coat safe car wax. Try the paste if you've got it.Let us know if anything you try works! It's good info to have for all kinds of clear plastic.
I can remember from my "car" days that auto polishing compound came in two flavours, brown was coarse and would still leave fine scratches, white was the one you could use to remove scratches from cheap sunglasses, I assume it would work on a microwave door. You try at your own risk.
I use "Brasso" on iPods and other plastic screens with good results. Try on an inconspicuous spot first.
I haven't seen how deep your scratches are, but what's gentler than all of those things is denim. It's not a compound -- I think it is cotton. Although I didn't see the actual label of the pair of pants I was wearing. Do they ever add polyester or something? Mine were probably all cotton.
Just the cloth, nothing else. I wasn't able to compare new denim from old. (I don't buy pre-washed clothes. I don't believe in pre-meditated waste. But I don't remember how old the pants I was wearing were. I suppose new denim is faster and old denim is smoother.)
A decent auto parts store should stock polishing kits for motorcycle windshields (normally made of polycarbonate). As long as the scratches are fairly minor, that should work for you. Deep scratches are pretty much impossible to remove
-- the best you can do is polish the sides of the scratch to make it more transparent.
I don't recommend automotive polishing compound (and certainly not automotive rubbing compound). Both will scratch the crap out of most plastics.
Toothpaste *might* work, but different brands have different abrasive qualities. Better to buy a polish that is meant for the job.
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