Scratch/abrasion removal esinglass?

[Capt. Rodbone]

The picture below shows blemishes made on our fly bridge esinglass by the VHF antennae. I inherited the issue, although I’m perfectly capable of such an oversight on my own.
My question is does anyone know of something that might get it off? I’m not looking for confirmation here (although I would graciously accept such were it to come my way) but when I suggested to my wife I use some compound wax. Or maybe even wet sanding the streak with maybe 1000 grit sandpaper she almost fell overboard. Those might not work but they wouldn’t make it look worse than it does now I don’t believe.
Any ideas out there?

 

[Comodave]

Try Sumner 210 spray wax. We used it on our last boat with the old worn eisenglass and it was pretty impressive how it helped. Not perfect but much better. I get it from Amazon.

 

[Bmarler]

You need to be careful trying abrasives on your windows. Especially if you don’t know what they are. Some windows are coated with various products for scratch resistance or uv protection. I’d follow Dave’s advice of a wax to minimize the effect, and then try to provide chafe protection going forward.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

Don't expect great results. By the time your isenglass gets scratched it is probably already sun damaged, in other words hard.

Time to consider replacement.

pete

 

[Bmarler]

had another thought regarding this. if the area is already damaged beyond repair, i wonder if a headlight restoration kit might help reduce the scratches to a degree. i wouldn't try it on a forward looking area, but this area on the side with a partially obstructed view might be a candidate for this type of repair technique. it's formulated for plastic, so might be helpful.

 

[tiltrider1]

had another thought regarding this. if the area is already damaged beyond repair, i wonder if a headlight restoration kit might help reduce the scratches to a degree. i wouldn't try it on a forward looking area, but this area on the side with a partially obstructed view might be a candidate for this type of repair technique. it's formulated for plastic, so might be helpful.

Head lights are made out of polycarbonate. Isenglass is clear vinyl with a special coating. I don’t think I would try polycarbonate cleaners on vinyl.

I have had a lot of luck rejuvenating acrylic and polycarbonate. I have not had much luck rejuvenating vinyl.

210 spray wax, Inmar polish & cleaner, Meguire’s clear vinyl cleaner, polisher and restorer, have had the best effects with vinyl. These products do a great job of cleaning, don’t expect to much in the way of scratch repair.

 

[Bmarler]

Head lights are made out of polycarbonate. Isenglass is clear vinyl with a special coating. I don’t think I would try polycarbonate cleaners on vinyl.

I have had a lot of luck rejuvenating acrylic and polycarbonate. I have not had much luck rejuvenating vinyl.

210 spray wax, Inmar polish & cleaner, Meguire’s clear vinyl cleaner, polisher and restorer, have had the best effects with vinyl. These products do a great job of cleaning, don’t expect to much in the way of scratch repair.

well there you go, like i said, it was only a thought. i haven't actually tried it.
i was just thinking about the wipe on clear coating that fills the scratches in the lights. might have aggressive solvents in it though, not sure.
when my vinyl gets too ugly i have it replaced.

 

[Comodave]

For abrasion, try putting a cover over the object that is causing the abrasion. I use Boat Blanket from Sailrite. It is simple to make a cover for the rail or whatever. Boat Blanket is self hemming so you just cut it out and the edges don’t need to be hemmed. Then on one side you put the hook side of Velcro. The hooks stick to the Boat Blanket and hold it in place. I always make covers for anything that touches or comes close to the eisenglass. I did all the rails in our current boat in about an hour.

 

[Bmarler]

For abrasion, try putting a cover over the object that is causing the abrasion. I use Boat Blanket from Sailrite. It is simple to make a cover for the rail or whatever. Boat Blanket is self hemming so you just cut it out and the edges don’t need to be hemmed. Then on one side you put the hook side of Velcro. The hooks stick to the Boat Blanket and hold it in place. I always make covers for anything that touches or comes close to the eisenglass. I did all the rails in our current boat in about an hour.

that's a terrific idea. not just for abrasion, but eliminating the sun burn from the stainless frames.

 

[Comodave]

that's a terrific idea. not just for abrasion, but eliminating the sun burn from the stainless frames.

Yes it does eliminate the sunburn. And Boat Blanket is very cheep to buy. You could sew it on a home sewing machine even though I have a commercial machine.

 

[Slowmo]

I have tried a sealer which claims to hide small scratches. It definately improved the appearance but doesn't fix it. I've tried the abrasive polishes, they made it worse.

 

[Comodave]

As I said above Sumner 210 is really good. Our last boat had eisenglass that was very cloudy and I polished them with Flitz. Took over 4 hours and made no noticeable difference. I then tried 210. Took 45 minutes and made a huge difference. It won’t take out deep scratches but neither will anything else. We were going to fabricate new enclosures but I couldn’t do that until we got the boat home and could use our sewing machine. But by using the 210 it made the trip home much better. It is cheap, quick and easy. We have baby diapers that we only use for polishing the eisenglass.

 

[Capt. Rodbone]

Fortunately they are on the aft most slide curtain and not a rest impediment to vision. It’s just aesthetics. Will experiment on it when we finish the loop and if it doesn’t work or if I make it worse I’ll replace it.