Plexiglass with varnish stains

[mattman]

Hi folks, sorry I don't have a better photo.

My recently purchased Nonsuch 26 has a permanent dodger, that a previous owner clearly put some time into. Unfortunately it's been neglected and has what appears to be varnish stains all over it. I'm hoping I'll be able to sand and restore it, perhaps with headlight cleaner, but figured I should get thoughts and feedback from you experts before I start sanding the entire thing.

This seems to be the most "heavy-duty" one I could find:

https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-G300...2224e19a196fb6

[Cheechako]

Have you tried Goof Off?

[a64pilot]

I think your going to have to get used to it, but you can try a micro-mesh kit, used usually to get scratches out of aircraft windows, its actually several grades of wet or dry sandpaper ending up with a polish
MICRO-MESH ACRYLIC RESTORAL KIT - 30 SQUARE FEET from Aircraft Spruce

[YachtBroker]

A brand new razor blade used very delicately should work and then use mcguires to take the scratches out. If you put any chemicals on the "plastic -glass" other than a plastic cleaner, it'll probably cloud it.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Have you tried Goof Off?

I just tested a piece... DONT TRY IT!

[losamalea]

Five Stars to yhis product!

[rpjn59]

I have had excellent results taking out scratches/gouges out of motorcycle wind screens with Mcguires products. At the time they made two different products that when used in sequence worked perfect. You couldnt find the scratches when completed. I think the first was scratch remover and the other was a polish. I sanded out the gouges down to like 400 grit then used the Mcguires. Im not saying start with this for removing the varnish, but if you scratch or cloud the plexy with your first process of choice, the Mcguires will recover the results. Hope this helps.

[tuffr2]

Agree with head light restore products. At least to start. You should know pretty quick of it will work or not.

Good luck

[denverd0n]

Whatever you use, start on a small corner section to see how it works, and make sure that it doesn't cloud the plexi.

Good luck.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Do a search on polishing Lexan, both here & over on Sailing Anarchy Forums. One place or the other there's a good description of how to do it properly. As I'm recalling that done right, you finish up with a Lamb's Wool pad on a polisher, using something around 2,000 grit.
And you have to use super gentle "abrasives", as well as not getting the Lexan warm via polishing friction, otherwise it's quite easy to make things much, much worse.
Even toothpaste can at times wreak havoc on the stuff.

[sparrowhawk1]

Heat up the varnish with a hair dryer or if you're more bold a heat gun, obviously being careful not to damage the plexiglass. This makes it softer and easier to scrape. Scrape with straight edge razor blade in a holder made for scraping. The following video shows how to take haze out of plexiglass but you can use the same system to remove scratches( that you made with your razor blade) just start with a more coarse sandpaper .
https://youtu.be/UEJbKLZ7RmM

If you round off (with sandpaper) the corners of the razor blade you will be less likely to dig in and make scratches

[tuffr2]

Forgot to mdntion, wait until the snow melts.