Cleaning Plexiglass?

I found a heavy over 1/2 sheet of at least 3/4" (maybe thicker) plexiglass a guy threw away when he was cleaning out his shop.It could use a good cleaning and maybe polishing.I know I can use it when making some jigs or something in the shop.I was just wondering if there is a way to clean it up...Just looks like it has been laying under the shop table and gotten dirty , scraped up etc.The dirty part I can handle but is there a way to polish or getting it closer to how it once looked? Just curious...Its still usable regardless ...Thanks Guys!

You can get polishing compound for headlights and bring back the polish. Depending on how bad it is, this may not be worth the trouble or expense.

If you are just going to use it for jigs, I don't imagine that you need it perfectly clear. Depending on the depth of scratches, you can wet sand with 400, then 600 grit paper. Then use Novus 3 and 2. As Dennis said, though, the cost and time may well not be worth the results.

You are right Grant.This is just an idea and I might do something like just the the wet sanding and clean it some...I dont really have a lot of time for extras right now...Thanks!!

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Originally Posted by Mike Turner

You are right Grant.This is just an idea and I might do something like just the the wet sanding and clean it some...I dont really have a lot of time for extras right now...Thanks!!

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Just don't wipe the surface without blowing off the dust and washing or wiping with a wet cloth (any grit will scratch). But I agree, unless needed to look pretty I wouldn't bother! I'd love to find such a piece!

If you DO decide to polish up a piece for something special micromesh and others have kits just for that. I once restored one of our club aircraft windshields this way. It went from so scratched it was nearly impossible to see the runway when landing towards the sun to like-new crystal clear. It took a few hours but was worth it.

Basically it is wet sanding with finer and finer grits of sandpaper down to 12000 grit. You can skip the finer grits and go to polish but at the expense of minor optical clarity. I've reused the same kit to polish acrylic pieces turned on the wood lathe. But if you go this route check other brands first - the micromesh kits have gotten horribly expensive. The kit I got for less than twenty bucks in the '70s is now over $50, more if you get the one labeled for aircraft windshields! How's that for gouging, er, inflation? :)

JKJ

I believe this is the specific task MicroMesh was originally created/developed to perform, resurface the windows on airplanes.