Any suggestions on getting plastic "scratches" off?

[Homerboy]

My son scraped up against a plastic covered pylon in a drive-thru the other day. There's some superficial scratches in the paint that I'm pretty sure can be buffed out but before I do that, I need to get rid of this yellow plastic that is clinging to the paint.

 

[Scarpozzi]

You're going to need something abrasive.

I would start with Macguire's car polish and a soft Terry cloth. If that doesn't get it, shake a little baking soda on the cloth. Work in a small area and see if you can get it to budge.

 

[Homerboy]

You're going to need something abrasive.

I would start with Macguire's car polish and a soft Terry cloth. If that doesn't get it, shake a little baking soda on the cloth. Work in a small area and see if you can get it to budge.

That doesn't sound overly promising

 

[Scarpozzi]

That doesn't sound overly promising

I don't know. Totally depends on the surface and the paint and the yellow plastic. You may be able to scratch some with a fingernail and see if it comes off. A buffer may be successful just by repetition. FWIW, I'm not an autobody guy.

Wet sanding with 3000 grit sandpaper may also help, but it will likely remove paint too....so I'd probably stick with the polish/soft cloth to see if you can get it to move.

 

[Meghan54]

I’d start with least abrasive and work to most. Least, at least for me, would be a polishing compound, like Scarpozzi mentioned. If that didn’t do it well enough, move to rubbing compound, then follow with polish cpd.

Not hard work, just tedious elbow grease. It’ll come off

 

[zinfamous]

If very careful and not too aggressive--focus on specific paint areas and no don't really add your own pressure--those magic erase pads work really well for that sort of contact blemish. Maybe lubricate with some mild car soap/water mixture or detailer spray, but I found that this worked really well when removing the same sort of thing from years ago when backing out of a very tight spot and the rear end of my car scraped a lamp post and brought along some of the post paint with it.

Of course those erasers can be really abrasive and damage your car paint if you go nuts with it, so just be careful. I'd also think that any mild scratches left over would be taken care of with a proper polish, which you would likely do, anyway.

 

[Ajay]

What ever you try, start with a very small patch first, to see if it works well without damaging the paint.

 

[mindless1]

I'd start with nothing more abrasive than a dry cotton cloth and a hairdryer to gently heat it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I had paint transfer much worse than your yellow streaks after a side-swipe fender-bender that didn't bend the fender. White paint transfer, streaks as wide as two inches, on my vinyl bumper which also is a painted surface if you didn't know. I didn't think it would come off, so I drove with the streaks for about two years. Then I got the idea to repair a small dent in the rear of the car. I needed a compound to treat the clear coat I'd put on the repair a month earlier. It suddenly dawned on me to apply it to the bumper streaks. The bumper now looks new, as if I'd just driven the car off the dealer lot, but the car is 25 years old.

You have two types of abrasive polishing compounds made by Turtle Wax, MacGuire's and others: Polishing compound which has a finer abrasive, and Rubbing compound, which is more aggressive.

Your vehicle likely has a color coat with clear coat on top of it. I'd start with the Rubbing compound and stop as soon as the yellow streaks are gone. Then, clean off the car and give it a good coat of hybrid-ceramic wax. It takes quite a lot of rubbing compound to remove paint to bare primer, so I wouldn't worry. I'm pretty sure the rubbing compound will easily remove the yellow without any paint removal to speak of.

 

[kt]

I've used the Meguiar's Scratch X product to remove worse scratches than what you have in the pics.
Get this:

Meguiar's® ScratchX® 2.0, G10307, 7 oz., Liquid | Meguiar's

www.meguiars.com

And some microfiber pads. Try on a small area first to see how it turns out. Don't put too much pressure, just light pressure and let the compound do the work.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've used the Meguiar's Scratch X product to remove worse scratches than what you have in the pics.
Get this:

Meguiar's® ScratchX® 2.0, G10307, 7 oz., Liquid | Meguiar's

www.meguiars.com

And some microfiber pads. Try on a small area first to see how it turns out. Don't put too much pressure, just light pressure and let the compound do the work.

I won't discourage the OP from trying it, and it might not hurt.

But she doesn't have "scratches". What we see in those pics one would call "paint transfer" -- or "plastic transfer" if the pylons were unpainted plastic. Underneath the yellow is unscarred paint. So I still recommend Rubbing Compound. The OP can try Polishing Compound, but it will take longer and require more elbow-grease.

 

[olds]

I'd spray WD40 on it then scrub with a rag. Wash then use a polishing compound.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I'd spray WD40 on it then scrub with a rag. Wash then use a polishing compound.

So....Kentucky Jelly is obviously from Kentucky. Where's WD40 from? Western Delaware?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Not sure what Scarpozzi means. I will ponder it.

I apparently referred to Homerboy as "she". Don't know why. Perhaps I assumed a gender because this is a really easy fix, and I probably cling to hold-over myths about women who think -- when a car starts making noises -- that if you drive it long enough it will fix itself.

Sure -- you could try WD40 to see if that will loosen the yellow plastic or paint transfer, and then apply polishing compound.

I only recommend a quick application of Rubbing Compound because I've had enough experience with it over the last year -- for instance, as the last step after removing the rust and repainting my brother's truck using epoxy primer to seal it; it's the recommended treatment after a 30-day lapse following a clearcoat application. I'd also used it on my Trooper's roof after applying a compound that reverses oxidation. It takes a lot of rubbing compound to damage paint -- just noticeably less than polishing compound. The OP is not likely to rub out the clear-coat by applying it to the limited area of the yellow streaks.

So again -- sure -- try the WD40 and then go to work with Polishing Compound. Same stuff, but a finer abrasive and less aggressive treatment of the clearcoat and paint. Therefore, more elbow grease required, and patience as well.

 

[kt]

I won't discourage the OP from trying it, and it might not hurt.

But she doesn't have "scratches". What we see in those pics one would call "paint transfer" -- or "plastic transfer" if the pylons were unpainted plastic. Underneath the yellow is unscarred paint. So I still recommend Rubbing Compound. The OP can try Polishing Compound, but it will take longer and require more elbow-grease.

Despite the name of the product, you don't actually use it on deep scratches that goes down to the primer or the metal. And actually, clear coat is what's underneath the yellow. You have the paint and then a clear coat layer on top of it. I wouldn't recommend just any rubbing compound because some can be harmful to the clear coat. The Meguiar's stuff is essentially a rubbing compound but safe to use on clear coat.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Despite the name of the product, you don't actually use it on deep scratches that goes down to the primer or the metal. And actually, clear coat is what's underneath the yellow. You have the paint and then a clear coat layer on top of it. I wouldn't recommend just any rubbing compound because some can be harmful to the clear coat. The Meguiar's stuff is essentially a rubbing compound but safe to use on clear coat.

Actually, Meguiar's is the brand I mostly used last summer and on my Trooper's roof. I think it has the property of the abrasive particles getting smaller as it's applied, so that you start with a more aggressive abrasive, and end up with a polishing-compound grade abrasive.

Good that you brought up that brand name, because I now remember this aspect of it.

 

[olds]

It takes a lot of rubbing compound to damage paint -- just noticeably less than polishing compound

My experience is the opposite.

 

[mindless1]

^ Yes agreed, rubbing compound is close to clay with sand mixed into it, is not suitable for any paint with a clearcoat on top. NONE. In any case where a clearcoat is that bad, it's time to wet sand it. It is not bad at all yet, there is no indication the clearcoat under the plastic transfer is bad.

Polishing compound can vary, but the thing is, there is no polishing here. You're trying to remove a foreign object. If after you remove it, there is some haze on the clearcoat, then it is time to try polishing compound.

If you are in a hurry (no patience), you could use polishing compound, put on a cotton swab in a drill/etc and be precise to only work on the area where the plastic transfer is, but what you don't want to do is start in a larger area than the transfer and wear the clearcoat over the whole area just to get the target removed.

DO try gently heating and rubbing the plastic to see if it comes off before anything more abrasive. There is no reason to subject any wider area to abrasion than necessary, unless you're too impatient for your own good. Do not think in terms of what comes off in a minute versus an hour, or later you will spend even more time trying to correct it. Slow and steady...

At the same time, after you get the plastic off, if that area is abrased you might then need a polishing compound to feather that into the rest, or a clearcoat added and then feathered... depends on how bad the damage to the clearcoat is once it's removed.

I'm suggesting that you probably don't have to do any of that damage, that before I broke out the rubbing compound, I'd even try scraping it with a plastic credit card/etc, precisely. Again, heat may help.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

^ Yes agreed, rubbing compound is close to clay with sand mixed into it, is not suitable for any paint with a clearcoat on top. NONE. In any case where a clearcoat is that bad, it's time to wet sand it. It is not bad at all yet, there is no indication the clearcoat under the plastic transfer is bad.

Polishing compound can vary, but the thing is, there is no polishing here. You're trying to remove a foreign object. If after you remove it, there is some haze on the clearcoat, then it is time to try polishing compound.

If you are in a hurry (no patience), you could use polishing compound, put on a cotton swab in a drill/etc and be precise to only work on the area where the plastic transfer is, but what you don't want to do is start in a larger area than the transfer and wear the clearcoat over the whole area just to get the target removed.

DO try gently heating and rubbing the plastic to see if it comes off before anything more abrasive. There is no reason to subject any wider area to abrasion than necessary, unless you're too impatient for your own good. Do not think in terms of what comes off in a minute versus an hour, or later you will spend even more time trying to correct it. Slow and steady...

At the same time, after you get the plastic off, if that area is abrased you might then need a polishing compound to feather that into the rest, or a clearcoat added and then feathered... depends on how bad the damage to the clearcoat is once it's removed.

I'm suggesting that you probably don't have to do any of that damage, that before I broke out the rubbing compound, I'd even try scraping it with a plastic credit card/etc, precisely. Again, heat may help.

[Also in response to olds -- post before yours]

I won't disagree entirely, nor do I want to start a p***ing contest about it.

Rubbing compound is recommended by my PaintScratch paint supplier for treating clearcoat 30 days after it was sprayed on -- when it will still be a bit soft. The MaGuier's rubbing compound quickly degrades to the quality of polishing-compound abrasive as it is progressively applied..

And as you say: "Polishing compound can vary, but the thing is, there is no polishing here. You're trying to remove a foreign object. If after you remove it, there is some haze on the clearcoat, then it is time to try polishing compound."

If the effort is confined to those paint transfer areas, I (personally) wouldn't worry much about damaging the paint if proper care is exercised. Of course, I can only cite my anecdotal personal experience using it to remove some serious paint transfer from a side-swipe on my painted rubber bumper. I got rid of all of it, but I don't notice any damage to the clearcoat. The rubber or vinyl bumpers usually can be ordered as spare parts, and come unpainted -- they have the charcoal or black color. A special "adhesion promoter" is used together with the vehicle's paint-code match of acrylic enamel to paint the bumper. So I wouldn't imagine any difference between my experience and the MaGuier's rubbing compound applied to a metal body panel.

Of course, you could all be right and I could be wrong, but that was my experience in using it.

Now, I suppose -- if I had a recent-model Corvette -- I could be more reticent -- more cautious -- and swing to polishing compound.

 

[mindless1]

[Also in response to olds -- post before yours]

I won't disagree entirely, nor do I want to start a p***ing contest about it.

Rubbing compound is recommended by my PaintScratch paint supplier for treating clearcoat 30 days after it was sprayed on -- when it will still be a bit soft.

Apples and oranges. With a new clearcoat you'll have ripples/dimples and you (may, if going for best look possible) want to remove them, while in this case there is already a level clearcoat that you don't want to remove any of, if possible.

 

[olds]

I've used 3M Microfine for literally years when removing remnants of things like the OP mentioned.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I've used 3M Microfine for literally years when removing remnants of things like the OP mentioned.

3M Microfine Wet-or-Dry sandpaper? Or one of the polishing-pad products?

I have to make a humble concession to Mindless1. I spoke of my experience with a painted vinyl bumper. I cannot, however and any further, ignore my history of trying to reverse and remove oxidation from the roof of my Trooper. I discovered this product:

L'Oxide -- Oxide reducing emulsion

Of course, the OP's problem is paint or plastic transfer. But let me continue. This stuff actually works, but it needs to be re-applied. I also noticed that beads of water, if left to dry, will leave water spots that appear to have oxidized edges. So eventually, I wanted to get that stuff off the Trooper's roof, and I used rubbing compound. It did -- indeed -- take off a good portion of the clearcoat. I can see now that I'll eventually need to repaint the roof. That is, I'll have to scruff it up with 220-grit, lay down a coat of primer (possibly two-part epoxy primer, but that's just a choice), a color coat and clear coat. Right now, it's got a good barrier of hybrid ceramic wax -- hopefully to keep any rust spots from developing. It's not "really really" ugly, but it's not beautiful either, even though you'd have to stand on a ladder to see it from the street.

Hopefully, the OP gleaned the prevailing wisdom and has since removed the yellow streaks or plastic transfer by now. It shouldn't take any longer than scanning through the posts on this thread. As for my painted bumper, well -- it looks brand new. But I was a lot more careful about using the abrasive.

 

[olds]

3M Microfine Wet-or-Dry sandpaper? Or one of the polishing-pad products?
...

My bad, it's Finesse-It

3M 05928 Finesse-It Glaze 1 quart

Buy 3M 05928 Finesse-It Glaze 1 quart with an everday low price and fast shipping! JB Tools

www.jbtools.com

 

[Scarpozzi]

Not sure what Scarpozzi means. I will ponder it.

I apparently referred to Homerboy as "she". Don't know why. Perhaps I assumed a gender because this is a really easy fix, and I probably cling to hold-over myths about women who think -- when a car starts making noises -- that if you drive it long enough it will fix itself.

Sure -- you could try WD40 to see if that will loosen the yellow plastic or paint transfer, and then apply polishing compound.

I only recommend a quick application of Rubbing Compound because I've had enough experience with it over the last year -- for instance, as the last step after removing the rust and repainting my brother's truck using epoxy primer to seal it; it's the recommended treatment after a 30-day lapse following a clearcoat application. I'd also used it on my Trooper's roof after applying a compound that reverses oxidation. It takes a lot of rubbing compound to damage paint -- just noticeably less than polishing compound. The OP is not likely to rub out the clear-coat by applying it to the limited area of the yellow streaks.

So again -- sure -- try the WD40 and then go to work with Polishing Compound. Same stuff, but a finer abrasive and less aggressive treatment of the clearcoat and paint. Therefore, more elbow grease required, and patience as well.

Don't ever think too hard about any of my posts. They're a mix of me being genuinely trying to help folks and me trying to make jokes that may not make sense.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Don't ever think too hard about any of my posts. They're a mix of me being genuinely trying to help folks and me trying to make jokes that may not make sense.

I continued to entertain the latter possibility . . .