Has anyone gotten cloudy residue on the clear plastic on the instrument display (spedo,tach, odom. etc.) ?? I believe that it is overspray from armorall and other "protectants". How do I remove the cloudy look on the clear plastic. Also I hear that water based vinyl protectants are better than the silicon based. What are some good water based protectants on the market??
Thanks,

Try mixing 1/4 pure alcohol and 3/4 water in a pint jar (or anything else, as long as you use the right amounts) and dip a rag in it, wring it out a little, and try cleaning it off with that. Make sure that you wring it out enough that it doesnt run whenever you wipe it across the glass. I dont know if it will work or not, but thats what I use to clean glass because it doesnt leave streaks, and it doesnt have any bad affects. I've used it where I've oversprayed Armorall before and it worked.

Thanks for the reply, I read that you used that technique on glass, but will it be ok on clear plastic? or will it cloud up more?

Don't bother trying. I accidentally got some armor all overspray on mine too and it doesn't come off. I think the oils in the armor all etch themselves into the clear plastic. Sorry.

yeah I was afraid of that.

Try cleaning it with Sprayway Glass Cleaner (best glass cleaner I have ever used) and a very soft rag, like a diaper. Then polish it with a 100% cotton towel and some Zaino plastic polish. The Zaino is safe for the plastic covering and will take out minor scratches. Be very careful with all this stuff though, as the cover will scratch very easily. That's why you have to use the 100% cotton towel. Oh, and quit using Armor-All. It sucks :). I use Lexol Vinylex. It's water-based.

peace

Mike

thanks mike, I know lexol makes a plastic cleaner do you think that is just as good? I know Zaino makes great stuff, but I just don't want to have to wait for it to come in.. I will switch to the lexol vinylex. Thanks again

Hey Brian, I have some similar clouding on my display and I have never used any kind of protectant on the glass. I have come to the conclusion that the clouding is plastic vapor on the interior side of the clear plastic that has come from the gauges themselves. If you can get to the inside of the plastic (I've never tried) we can test this hypothesis.

Hey Brian

I'm sure the Lexol plastic cleaner will work just fine. You might want to give Sal Zaino a call and have him give you the name and number of a local distributor. Mine can have stuff to me the next day and they take credit cards (at least mine does).

peace

Mike

If you get lightly scratched or hazy perspex (or other hard-type clear plastics) then you can use metal polish to put a new finish on it. There's a bit of elbow work involved but it does work. Try it on a scrap piece of perspex first if you just want to get an idea of how it works. This is quite different from trying to remove contamination - you are actually putting a new finish on the material. I suggest not using chrome cleaner as this tends to be a fairly gritty abrasive - use something like silver or brass polish which is less agressive.

Chris

I had that happen from Armor All I used to use on one of my old trucks. That and Window cleaner did it also. The only way to fix it is to replace the plastic.

have you guys tried wd-40 to clean that? I know many times I'll get something where everyone will say "nothing will get that out!" and I'll try a few things and nothign will seem to get it out, then I'll apply some wd-40 and off it comes. While its not recommended, I've also used it on my shower door when it gets that crusty crap on it that nothing can seem to get off (including theshower cleaners that advertise themselves as being able to get off the crusty shower door stuff, LOL).

i have a big pollen prob where i live, will normal glass cleaner get all the yellow crap off, yes its good for allergies tooo!!!!

As long as we're talking about WD-40...let me just say that it works a whole lot better than Preparation-H too.