Cleaning and Polishing Perspex

[odes20]

Just recently fitted a new windscreen to my boat and I want to look after the perspex. What is the best thing to clean and polish it?

Cheers
John

[Dignity]

John,
I reckon that fresh water and soft cloths are the best. I would not use Rainex under any circumstances as I had a boat where I used it on a screen in good condition and within 12 months the perspex crazed badly. It could be a case of it had already started and the Rainex just accelerated the deterioration but I have sworn off the product.

Protection from the sun is the best measure you can take. If you have to park the boat outside make a cover for the windscreen at least as dew on the screen will start the whole process again when the sun hits it in the morning.

[robfin]

The care instructions on mine says no harsh chemicals so all I use is either fresh water and a good dry down or warm soapy water when I wash the whole boat.

[smashed crabs]

tyr brasso of silvo i think it's called?? and use a polishing cloth , then you switch to metho then back again untill it's as good as you can get it to look , best you do a test in one corner , be prepared for hours and hours of rubbing

[smashed crabs]

tyr brasso of silvo i think it's called?? and use a polishing cloth , then you switch to metho then back again untill it's as good as you can get it to look , best you do a test in one corner , be prepared for hours and hours of rubbing

Sorry cheif didnt read ya writting well enough , dont do this if ya perspex is good

[odes20]

tyr brasso of silvo i think it's called?? and use a polishing cloth , then you switch to metho then back again untill it's as good as you can get it to look , best you do a test in one corner , be prepared for hours and hours of rubbing

I think thats what you do to try and restore a dull oxidised screen isn't it?

I have made cover for it and its always in the shed at home

Cheers
John

[Vitamin Sea]

Try kitten No 1 polish (not cut and polish) or a good quality wax only, works well on clears as well.

Cheers

VS

[macca3441]

I use a product called "Plexus" on my polycarbonate windows in my racecar, as do a lot of other racers I know. It's designed as a cleaning and polishing agent for plastics, perspex, polycarbonates, etc...!
I believe a lot of boating places sell it.

Macca

[Chimo]

I would take a good look at Plexus too. I use it to good affect on all my clears and think it would be worth reading the instructions on the bottle.

A bit of a change from from when all else fails read the instructions but.....

Cheers
Chimo

[oldboot]

If you have beautifull clean new acrillic ( perspex) or polycarbonate ( lexan), the best thing you can do is touch it as little as possible......it will never be as clean, clear and scratch free as when the cover paper was peeled off.

when you clean it....wash it off with clean water and do not touch it till any salt crystals and bits of grit n crap have been rinsed off.......then and only then wipe it over with your cleanest softest rag and perhaps a little mild deterdent....rinse and wipe again.....new cleanest and softest rag.


once it has got past, the " new windscreen syndrome" phase and it has some scuffs or scratches.....then you can think about other things.

In the distant past I used brasso on some acrilic..... because that was what was arround...... but truly it aint great.

Some good quality microabrasive buffing compound will do wonders with a slow speed polishing machine.

McGuires it touted as being the go in places, but if you go to an automotive refinish supplier they will have something far more economical.....and you don't need the finest grade

If you are realy getting fussy, there is a polishing kit under the "norvus" brand..in the kit there is a cleaner and a fine polish.......some of those who do high end acrillic work use this stuff.....the kit aint cheap, and it can be tricky to obtain but you use very very small amounts and the stuff is brilliant.

One thing you need to keep away are chemical polishes and waxes and especially silicons........especially the "Evil Little Man".... MR Sheen......his tin contains silicon and a cocktail of solvents.

Good acrillic has a reasonable tolerance of oils and mild solvents, but poly carbonate generaly does not......use of solvents, oils or waxes on polycarbonate will almost certainly result in premature crazing or clouding.

A mate of mines MRS who is a cleaning freek ( best intensions) took to his boat windscreen with a scotchbrite....OH what a mess...... he fixed it with some compound I got for him and a slow electric buff.

If the compound you are using is not fine enough, the screen will flare in the sun..........brasso simply is not fine enough and it contains white spirit.

If buffing acrilic you can get away with a compound with some kerro in it.......the compound I use contains only kerro, water and micro abrasive.

But if buffing polycarbonate, you are best with a water base only compound.

Micro abrasive was the last generation in polish technology and is still great.

My supplier was telling me of the new compound they stock..it contains a microabrasive where the grains are spherical rather than jagged litte rocks.
Aparaltly it is fantastic... have not tried myself yet.

cheers

[Dave_H]

I used to fly floatplanes and of course the polycarbonate windows would cop a lot of salt spray. We used Mr Sheen in both pressure and trigger packs with the softest cloths we could find. It did two things - removed the residue after washing off with water and also formed a wax film (invisible) which seemed to allow the salt water to bead and slide off easily. It worked for us but of course the airflow past the windows of a floatplane is a little faster than that of a boat.

I also use it on my own widscreen of my boat (lexan sheet) and it works OK for me.

Regards,

Dave