How do you prevent clear plastic micro scratches?

[Zevulin]

I'm guessing even the softest MF can cause micro swirling in clear plastic, what's the best way to prevent this?

[Mantilgh]

I try to do so by using waterless/rinseless products. Little to no pressure and flip to clean side of the towel often. I do this for gauge clusters and infotainment centers.

[Paul A.]

^bingo! I do the same thing mantilgh. I use ONR and my super plush MF's and very very gently wipe gauge clusters, nav screens etc followed by another very very gentle wipe fully dry with another plush MF. I don't like how scratch sensitive they seem to be and always treat them delicately.

I'll also say i wring out the ONR towel a bit drier than when i do outside paint. I certainly don't want anything dripping down behind and gauge cluster.

[LSNAutoDetailing]

the plastic gauge clusters are a very thin sheet of plastic with an anti-glare coating on them. They are very susceptible to scratches.
Being an eye-glass wearer with anti-glare coating, and formerly into photography, I found that using a Zeiss (Leica / Leitz) 8x8 eyeglass cloth, with specific eyeglass cleaner (spritz bottle) does a wonderful job without scratching the anti-glare coating.

Otherwise, Megs Plast-X works great, there is also a Sonax product available...

[vanev]

Scratching plastic gauges and rear view mirror glass/plastic is easy to to do.
Use short pile, tight weave microfiber towels.
Glass cleaning specific microfiber towels are better than general microfiber towels.

If your towels sit out and uncovered, whether outside or in a shop, the towels can pick up dust and sand particles that will scratch both glass and plastic.
Be very careful of this.

[WillSports3]

Depending on what it is, even on the interior I'll coat with optilens to give it a better hardness and then use ONR as maintenance to clean it. Although what I found works well is the suede CarPro MFs for anything plastic/glass related.

[hogie]

I have had luck making light scratches in plastic disappear with 3m Imperial hand glaze.

[LEDetailing]

From personal experience the best way to avoid scratches on clear plastic on gauges and radio/HVAC controls is using light dampness on a very soft MF rag. And avoid dry dusting at all.

Basically what the other guys already said:)

[Rsurfer]

From personal experience the best way to avoid scratches on clear plastic on gauges and radio/HVAC controls is using light dampness on a very soft MF rag. And avoid dry dusting at all.

Basically what the other guys already said:)

Right on..never use a dry cloth no matter how soft to wipe clear plastics.

[Tempest45]

Very soft microfiber "feather" duster to remove any light dust. Matte detail spray for gauges and nav screens (or Optiseal) . Low pile MF glass towel or very soft sponge wax applicator.

Optiseal on other interior surfaces.

[Macpage]

I treat it in a lot of ways like my camera lens. I'll use a bulb blower to lightly blow off heavy dust followed by a natural bristle artist's brush. If there are spots that remain that need any pressure, I will use a lightly moistened PEC pad (from the optic industry) to "very" gently remove the spot. Some good optic fluids mentioned so far. I often use distilled water. This works very well on the plasma TV screen also.

However, I find high gloss black/dark coated plastic to be almost impossible to keep from being marked if frequent cleaning is necessary. The bezels around flat screens and the kids Play Station come to mind.

Of course, it always used in the worst possible spots in vehicles, like around the gear selector. One is really lucky if they can even get a new car with these areas pristine. I often wonder how much is actually done during factory installation. Our most recent purchase was OK. The instrument cluster and touch screen were pretty good, but the gear selector and HVAC monitor strip still look like birds danced on them.

Best,

Mike C.