Fixing scuffs on door panel area and other plastic?

[thomasterrible]

Is there a way to repair scuffs on the bottom of door panels and the plastic parts in front near the floor?
People have made scuffs with their shoes over the years and if there is a way to repair them vs paying for new panels that would likely be difficult
to get people to avoid minor damage again.
It would save me hundreds of dollars and I would be grateful for the information if anyone has information on a procedure to do this.

Thanks in advance.

[pajeff02]

Depends on how deep the scuffing is. You could try some rubbing compound or even a cleaner wax and may be able to remove a good bit of it.

[thomasterrible]

Depends on how deep the scuffing is. You could try some rubbing compound or even a cleaner wax and may be able to remove a good bit of it.

Never thought of rubbing compound on it but will give a few products a try.
Thanks for the suggestions.

[theorangeguy]

Never thought of rubbing compound on it but will give a few products a try.
Thanks for the suggestions.

I used rubbing compound on one of my tail lights that had some scratches in it and it worked great...never thought about applying it to plastic on the interior of the car but I dont see why it wouldnt work.

[thomasterrible]

I used rubbing compound on one of my tail lights that had some scratches in it and it worked great...never thought about applying it to plastic on the interior of the car but I dont see why it wouldnt work.

It is certainly worth trying. I wish I had not just tossed out many years of accumulated car polishes and lubes and all sorts of stuff since the house was being sold and I did not have space for it all. I have found I needed it more than I thought.
I do have some plastic specific products like Plastic X but that says it is for clear plastic. I also have some stuff I think is likely not strong enough called Liquid Ebony that is made for removing marks from fiberglass molds. It works better repairing scratched CD's than anything actually made for the purpose I have tried.

I will test spots to make sure a product does not mess up an area before going to town. I will be happy if I can find one that works well though. I have read of people using sandpaper which might work but is a bit more heavy and involved than I was hoping for.

if anyone finds something that works particularly well for those specific areas/types of plastic it would be nice to hear about it.

[The Guz]

I would recommend you use something like an all purpose cleaner and follow that up with an interior protectant. What I have used on my personal cars along with a couple of my family memebers, is use meguiars D103 APC+. It has been discontinued but D101 APC works just as good.

If you are looking for someting over the counter a couple that work well are meguiar's quik interior detailer and mothers VLR. They are all in one products and will lightly clean and leave a little protection behind. APC will give a better cleaning.

I like to use meguiar's quik interior detailer followed by either natural shine or ultimate protectant. Depends on what level of shine you like. Natural shine will offer a natural looking shine for about 1 month with ultimate protectant being more glossy but lasting 2-3 months. With mothers VLR, I follow that up with their interior protectant. The mothers interior protectant should be applied monthly.

If the scuffs are deep an interior dressing may be the only way to hide them.

[thomasterrible]

I would recommend you use something like an all purpose cleaner and follow that up with an interior protectant. What I have used on my personal cars along with a couple of my family memebers, is use meguiars D103 APC+. It has been discontinued but D101 APC works just as good.

If you are looking for someting over the counter a couple that work well are meguiar's quik interior detailer and mothers VLR. They are all in one products and will lightly clean and leave a little protection behind. APC will give a better cleaning.

I like to use meguiar's quik interior detailer followed by either natural shine or ultimate protectant. Depends on what level of shine you like. Natural shine will offer a natural looking shine for about 1 month with ultimate protectant being more glossy but lasting 2-3 months. With mothers VLR, I follow that up with their interior protectant. The mothers interior protectant should be applied monthly.

If the scuffs are deep an interior dressing may be the only way to hide them.

Of course I just tossed about everything you named off since I was overwhelmed with stuff and had to take the expensive stuff. But I will get some to try. I will have to do the entire interior to match but would like a more matte type of look. If I can clean and hide that will be fine for now. I guess I won't know how big a deal it really is until I try to deal with it. Just bugs the hell out of me and have been too busy to deal with the little things but these are not bad. I have to take one door panel off tonight or tomorrow to replace an electric window motor anyway so will both be down there AND have the panel off which would be easier to deal with than on the car.

Thanks much,

[Guerrillakilla13]

I always have, and always will, stick by Mothers products. They work fantastically.

[thomasterrible]

I always have, and always will, stick by Mothers products. They work fantastically.

Mothers is a good brand. All I have not tossed is some wheel polish though. So I will be buying something. Not tonight though. Installed the new window motor. It works but I can tell it is cheap, bad buying decision. I am considering ordering a better quality before buttoning the door up the rest of the way. Then while both the drivers side and passenger side work to make the window go up and down now the drivers side is going out and coming back on. But although I have a second cheap motor I don't really want to install that POS. To top things off I closed the door with the keys in it, that was the fastest part of everything this evening, breaking in to my car by poking the power door lock with a metal rod. One of those frustrating deals where I am calling it a night and continue tomorrow...

[cammed goat]

Mothers plastic polish gets my vote.

[thomasterrible]

Mothers plastic polish gets my vote.

I like both Maguires and Mothers products.
I have used Maguires Plastic X on several items with great results. Usually using a small detailing orbital polisher with microfiber bonnet.
I took all the scratches out of a clear motorcycle windscreen so it looked new. Used it on an older 55 inch HDTV outer plastic screen my
dog had but scratches in when he was young jumping up to get anything on top. It has worked great for anything clean and did not leave
behind a haze or other concerns I had. There is also Plexxus which is highly thought of by some that I know but my use with it has been
limited and I think it is for a final touch type product. BUT this is for CLEAR plastic stuff.

But for the sort of areas I am talking about it is usually an area that is not smooth, there is a texture to it. So I would not want to make some areas smooth
and others stand out not being smooth. So unless I were to refinish and entire interior I think the cleaning and dressing with a matte finish detail product like
some that have been mentioned is my best bet.

I got the door panel off last night to replace the window motor and fortunately it is not as bad as I thought. Mostly dirty and the clean and detail product
method should work well for that. I will need to clean and detail the entire interior with the same products so they match but that will make everything look
nice anyway. For the plastic panels in front of the door I am going to have to clean those and see if they have any heavy scratches or not. I don't see I have
too many choices if fixing a scratch is not going to make it look worse.

So that is where I am at. I have a leather interior so I do also need to make sure I clean that and get some good protection on it so it does not dry out and
become an issue.

I appreciate all the suggestions for various products. I will whittle it down to a few when I browse the isles of the parts store and go with what I think is the best
stuff for the look I am after.

If I find something deep and figure out a way to fix it that was not mentioned here I will report on that too in case someone else is trying to accomplish the same thing.
The GM interior materials can really make our cars have a cheap look to them unfortunately so at least getting them to look as nice as possible makes a big difference.

I slack off on keeping my interior up more than I should to be honest. Hopefully when I get it all nice again I will keep it that way longer.

Thanks Much!

[eteller]

I've been contemplating replacing my interior pieces with scuff and scratches till I discovered you can fix them with a heat gun. It basically reflows the plastic and scratches become almost invisible, scuffs completely disappear. Here's a little tutorial video I found:



BTW that guys heat gun must be hotter than my crappy Harbor Freight one as I had to work slower, but that's good less chance to melt stuff.

[KahanaReef]

How clever. Very good to know.

[SMWS6TA]

That's freaking genius

[eteller]

I should have done before and after pics, it literally was like a magic eraser. Deep scratches don't disappear but they do turn back to the original color, you gotta look hard to find them. If I didn't kill my cheap heat gun I'm gonna try it on the black cowling the windshield wipers bolt to tonight. It apparently works just as well on faded exterior trim, there is a you tube vid on that too.

[theorangeguy]

got a new trick to try! dont know that I need to do it with my car...but i'll find something to try it on hahahaha

[thomasterrible]

Thanks, that is a cool trick. I am sure that will help things and lower my costs in the end. I worry about damaging the "grain" of the plastic but will do what I can and see how things look. My stuff is not weathered but I think I can still utilize the technique in some places and also know about it for future use.

[eteller]

Thanks, that is a cool trick. I am sure that will help things and lower my costs in the end. I worry about damaging the "grain" of the plastic but will do what I can and see how things look. My stuff is not weathered but I think I can still utilize the technique in some places and also know about it for future use.

Mine wasn't weathered either, just mainly scuff and scratches. As a IT guy I carry around lots of computer cases and those always bounce around the hatch area. Any changes to the grain are not noticeable, blends in perfect.

[thomasterrible]

I will try it when I do a full detail. I have a few cigarette burns too. I could use a good heat gun for occasional other uses so it will get tried. I will want to spiff up everything so the non detailed stuff doesn't stand out.

[pajeff02]

I have never seen this done before. Wow!