Many people ask the question: how is plexiglass polished at home? This procedure is often extremely necessary, because many home craftsmen try to create various parts from this unique material with their own hands.
Grinding can be done at home, without using any specialized equipment. You can make do with what you have on hand. There are several ways by which you can polish the ends of a plexiglass product or the front surface to the desired shine.
Depending on the method you choose to sand and polish your acrylic will determine what tools and memory aids you will need. It is also worth noting that the conditions in which the work will be performed are important, and the dimensions of the product are also important.
General requirements for work
Acrylic polishing is performed using low-abrasive compounds. Do not use aggressive substances, as they can irreversibly damage the surface. It is also worth noting that acrylic processing work will be easiest to carry out when the part is separated from general design. If this cannot be done, then adjacent parts will need to be protected with mounting tape.
As a rule, if the area to be treated is small, then the work can be done manually. It will be much easier and less expensive, as well as faster, to use a sander.
Processing using sandpaper and polishing paste
For this method you will need:
- Sandpaper, grit 2000 and 800;
- Cut soft fabric, felt and felt will do;
- Polishing paste.
So, first of all, you will need to use 800 grit sandpaper. The element to be processed can be pre-treated with water. As a result of your actions, you should disappear small scratches, the surface will become smooth and matte. Don’t be upset, don’t think that you have ruined the part, this is how it should be, the main thing is that the surface of the part is neat and even.
Now you can proceed to the second stage, process the part sandpaper 2000 grit. As a result of the work, you will notice that the acrylic will become transparent. In order to improve the effect, you can use polishes.
The polish must be applied to a piece of soft cloth, then apply even movements to the entire surface. Continue your actions until the desired result is achieved.
Using GOI paste
Below we will tell you how to polish any part made of the material - plexiglass using GOI paste. This method is very similar to the one described above, but instead of polish you need to use GOI paste. Repeat the technology as described above. First of all, you need to treat the surface using sandpaper, and then to achieve the desired gloss result, use GOI paste.
Using car polishes
If you were unable to purchase GOI paste or other polishing paste, you can use various products from the car cosmetics series that are used to eliminate minor scratches and damage.
To get started, apply auto polish to the screen or part being processed, then start sanding using a soft cloth; you can use a sander with a special attachment on it.
Using scrap materials
In addition to the methods described above, you can polish acrylic with improvised materials, for example, tooth powder or chalk. To do this, you will need to pour the powder onto a piece of fabric, use a cotton pad, place it between the sanding wheel and the fabric. Now perform careful circular movements, thereby you will be able to sand the part.
As you can see, there are quite a few methods for sanding plexiglass; you can choose the one that suits you most and radically change an acrylic part that has lost its previously attractive appearance.
Polymer solid transparent material called plexiglass. Although there are quite a lot of other names - plexiglass, acryplast, carboglass and others. It is often used instead ordinary glass in the automotive industry, aviation and other industries. But despite all the advantages of the material, it happens that it becomes cloudy or damaged. And then the task arises of how to polish plexiglass with your own hands.
General requirements for work performance
Polishing is carried out using low-abrasive compounds. And at the same time, it is necessary to avoid the use of aggressive substances. It is worth considering that it is easiest to do the work when the plexiglass is removed from the structure. When this is not possible, adjacent areas of the surface should be protected with tape.
Usually, if the surface to be polished is small, the work is done manually. But it’s easier, cheaper and faster to get the desired result when using a grinder. For example, it is best to polish car headlights with it. This kind of work can be done in several ways, and sometimes you have to wonder what you can use to polish plexiglass.
Methods of execution
Using sandpaper and polishing paste
The necessary equipment for polishing will require:
- sandpaper 2000 and 800;
- soft rag, felt or felt;
- polishing paste.
Initially, sandpaper No. 800 is used; the workpiece can be moistened with water. As a result, small scratches will be removed (evened out) and the surface will become matte. There's nothing wrong with that, that's how it should be. The main thing is that it is smooth and without visible signs of damage.
Then the surface begins to be treated with sandpaper No. 2000, after which the glass becomes transparent and the scratches disappear. The use of polish can improve the quality of grinding. It is applied to a soft fabric (flannel, felt, felt, etc.), and then the entire surface is treated with uniform movements. This continues until the desired result is obtained.
A variation of the considered method can be considered the option when one is limited to polishing with sandpaper (if the part is not critical and its transparency does not play a special role). Or when only polish is used without preliminary sanding. You can learn more about this from the video:
Using GOI paste
In principle, this is almost the same method as the previously discussed one. Only in this case, instead of polish, GOI paste is used. The polishing technology is actually the same - first the surface is treated with emery cloth, and then the final gloss is applied with GOI paste. Its characteristics and features of use can be found here:
More details about polishing technology in this way are described here:
Treating glass surfaces using auto polishes
To restore the quality of surfaces, you can use various car cosmetics designed to eliminate minor scratches and damage. In principle, the work is carried out as follows - car polish is applied to the surface, and then it is rubbed with a soft cloth, or a sander, or special nozzle for the Bulgarian.
But it is better to first read the instructions for use of the product and conduct a test test for small area surfaces.
The polishing methods mentioned are far from the only ones; there are others, for example, using toothpaste, but these are already options for critical situations; usually the considered methods for restoring the transparency of plexiglass are sufficient.
Sometimes we damage the glass of watches, phones or transparent surfaces without intentionally various devices. To eliminate scratches that appear, it is quite enough to simply polish the surface of the plexiglass. And you can do this yourself, including at home.
Over time, the surface of the plexiglass becomes covered with scratches, loses its shine, various flaws begin to appear on it, and the reflection in it is significantly distorted. But it is still possible to return the glass to its previous appearance, although the process itself is labor-intensive and quite time-consuming. The main thing is to know how to polish plexiglass, be patient and not allow the material to become completely unusable.
Features of plexiglass
Plexiglas is a synthetic polymer consisting of a thermoplastic resin. It has many other names:
- plexiglass;
- acrylic glass;
- transparent plastic;
- carbonglass;
- acryplast, etc.
Plexiglas has been known in Europe since 1933, although it was created back in 1928. At that time, plexiglass found its way into the aviation industry. Its properties such as transparency, shatterproofness and insensitivity to the effects of aviation gasoline were excellent for the design of the cockpit.
Domestic plexiglass appeared in 1936, and modern developments allowed the use of its composite versions even on MiG aircraft. What then to say about household use plexiglass, which is widely used:
- in interiors;
- when glazing openings and making transparent domes;
- as decorative partitions;
- in the production of shower cabins;
- as a diffuser for fluorescent lamps and illuminated decorative elements;
- for aquariums and molded products.
It is impossible to list all the applications of plexiglass, especially in industry. It is released:
- colored;
- transparent;
- matte;
- corrugated.
We can say with confidence that plexiglass looks great in any case, has a lot of advantages, but is prone to scuffs and scratches, which can be removed if you learn how to polish plexiglass. If the result is positive, it will last for a long time.
How to restore transparency and shine to plexiglass
To begin with, you should remember that when polishing organic glass you should not use highly abrasive or aggressive compounds. chemicals and coarse sandpaper. All of them will certainly lead to dulling of the surface and loss of aesthetics.
There are several ways to give plexiglass a second life, each of which has a right to exist. It should be noted that it is most convenient to work with glass that has been removed from the structure. In this case, tape is glued to the ends so that it extends a couple of millimeters onto the main surfaces of the plexiglass.
If it is not possible to remove the plexiglass for a number of reasons, then the adjacent surfaces of other materials will need to be covered with the same tape. Next, the glass is cleaned of dust and dirt with a piece of soft cloth.
It is important to know that prepared plexiglass is polished only by hand. Any machine processing leads to its damage due to the relatively fast processing.
Option 1
For the process of polishing plexiglass you will need following materials and tools:
- sandpaper - with grit 2000 and 800;
- a soft cloth, which can be replaced with felt or felt;
- polishing paste.
Polishing begins with 800 grit sandpaper and a small amount of water. It is necessary to ensure the accuracy and uniformity of stripping. The surface after completing this stage turns out matte, but that’s how it should be. The main thing is that there are no potholes left. The glass is wiped with a soft cloth and the plexiglass is treated with finer sandpaper with a grain size of 2000, as a result of which it becomes more transparent and scratches disappear on the surface.
Next, apply a polish in the form of a paste, available in a wide range in construction supermarkets, onto the plexiglass using a soft cloth, and continue polishing, evenly rubbing the composition over the surface of the glass. The effect of the appearance of shine on it can be seen in a few seconds.
Option 2
In this case you will need:
- paste GOI;
- soft fabric, or felt, felt, cotton pads, sold in cosmetic departments.
First, the paste is applied to plexiglass and polished using one of the above materials. Then it is processed with fine sandpaper dipped in water. Plexiglas is also sprayed with water; its surface should not remain dry during operation.
At the final stage, the glass is wiped with a soft cloth and again treated with GOI paste using felt. This option is recommended for polishing old plexiglass.
Option 3
There is a wide range of colorless car polishes from various manufacturers on the market. They are also suitable for polishing organic glass, but before starting the application process it would be a good idea to check on a small area of plexiglass what the result will be so that unforeseen situations do not occur.
If the test is successful, you can safely apply polish to the surface, carefully rubbing it with felt. After completing this stage, it is recommended to grind the plexiglass with machine oil.
There are still quite a lot of options for polishing plexiglass. Home craftsmen will be able to tell you about using scratch paper and a spray can with a burner, which is unsafe and, if used incorrectly, can lead to glass melting. Some craftsmen advise using self-prepared products, which include tooth powder or paste, wine vinegar or chalk.
But you shouldn’t take risks - it’s better to use proven technologies for polishing plexiglass!
POLISHING OF Plexiglass AND OTHER PLASTICS
Sometimes when making homemade things from plexiglass and other plastics - various boxes, puzzles and other things - it is necessary to polish the product. How to do it! P. ANTONOV, M o s k v a.
Polishing is usually preceded by grinding to remove rough defects. Sand the products with sanding blocks, sandpaper and coarse abrasive powders.
You need to know that there can be two types of plastics: those capable of softening and melting when heated - thermoplastic plastics (plexiglass, polyethylene, nylon) and non-melting - thermosetting plastics (textolite, carbolite, melalite).
Polishing removes a very thin layer of plastic. Preliminary (rough) polishing is carried out wet or dry. Wet is more often used for thermoplastics during mechanical polishing. Plastics are polished with a thick paste made from finely ground pumice or tripoli and water. Having finished polishing, the paste is washed off with water and proceed to fine (final) polishing.
For dry polishing, pastes made from abrasive powders (pumice, emery, corundum, carborundum, tripoli, chalk, chromium oxide, aluminum oxide, crocus) with various binding additives are usually used: beeswax, wax-like substances (ceresin, paraffin), oleic acid, machine oil, spindle oil, vaseline. Sometimes, in order for the paste to hold better on polishing wheels, 5-7% of rosin by weight of the waxy component is added to it.
Composition of polishing pastes industrial production is given in the table. Such pastes are available for sale. The Lik pasta is especially good. It does not use chromium oxide, which has green color, and crystalline aluminum oxide. For example, this paste is used to polish plastic keys of accordions and other musical instruments, it does not stain the plastic, it gives mirror polishing surfaces.
For polishing parts made of thermoplastic plastics, pastes N2 1, 4 and 5, as well as Lik paste are recommended; for thermosetting plastics, any of those given in the table are recommended.
It is easy to prepare polishing pastes yourself by purchasing the necessary components at hardware stores and chemical stores. Abrasive powder can also be obtained from special cleaning products that contain ground pumice: for example, NEDE, Aluminum, Hygiene, " Slava", "Pemoxol", "Universal paste". These products must be rinsed thoroughly large quantities water, let the water settle, drain it, and dry the sediment - pumice powder.
Polishing a surface with large flaws should begin with a coarse paste, then moving on to a finer one. During polishing, the paste softens under the influence of heat and is evenly distributed over the surface of the part and the polishing pad or circle. After polishing, the paste should be washed off with soap and water or gasoline, using a soft absorbent cotton swab.
When manually polishing, the paste is applied to the surface of soft felt, flannel and other soft materials, which, for convenience, can be secured to a block of cork, rubber, or foam rubber.
For a large volume of Work, it is advisable to use an electric drive, on the shaft of which discs-circles made of several layers of materials such as cloth, twill, flannel, felt are fixed - for preliminary polishing and calico, flannel, madapolam, muslin - for final polishing. Discs should be moderately elastic, but not hard. Disc thickness - 60-100 mm.
Sand and polish items by gently pressing them and moving them evenly up and down the disc, avoiding overheating. Thermoplastics are polished at a speed of 1,000-1,500 rpm, and thermosetting plastics - up to 2,000 rpm. Thermoplastic plastics require softer polishing materials than thermosets.
At machining plexiglass (polymethyl methacrylate) and polystyrene, small cracks called “silver” may appear on the surface. To remove them, after polishing, it is recommended to slowly heat the product in the oven to a temperature of 70-80 ° C, maintain at this temperature for two to four hours, and then gradually cool to room temperature within 30-60 minutes.
Candidate of Technical Sciences V. IVANOV.
"Science and Life", 7, 1975
During operation of plexiglass products under the influence external factors scratches and damage may occur. But, knowing how to polish plexiglass, you can get rid of defects and return the surface to its original shine and smoothness. Except necessary tools and materials for polishing, you need to be patient, as this process is quite painstaking and requires accuracy. Of course, the easiest way is to turn to specialists, especially if a large item needs polishing, such as pieces of furniture or a plexiglass aquarium, but you can do it yourself.
How to polish plexiglass at home?
To polish organic glass, GOI paste is most often used, applied to a polishing wheel or soft polishing cloth. It is also possible to use fine-grained sandpaper. Any product used to polish plexiglass should contain only fine abrasive particles, otherwise it will only get worse, because large particles will damage the surface and the glass will become cloudy.
How to polish scratched plexiglass?
If the scratches are not very deep, then you can do the following:
- Apply GOI paste No. 2 (thin paste with fine abrasive particles) onto a soft flannel or felt cloth. There is no need to apply the paste directly to the plexiglass so that the excess does not scratch the surface. Spread the cloth on the table and simply rub it with a bar of paste.
- You need to drop a little spindle oil on the product and start polishing. Movements should be careful, there is no need to press too hard on the surface. Polish until desired result is obtained, adding oil if necessary.
In cases where there are deep scratches, it is necessary to use fine-grained sandpaper.
- Wet the plexiglass and the skin with water using a spray bottle. The moisture level must be maintained at all times.
- Polish the surface carefully to the desired result.
- Dry the product and apply GOI paste using a soft cloth.
Now you know how to polish plexiglass. It's really not difficult and with a little patience, your plexiglass items will shine like new.