Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Non-Petro Discussions Non-petro Discussion and Showcase advice needed for plexiglass save

Timely clothes was the men's wearhouse of its day back in the 40's-50's. I won this clock at an auction, only to get it home and realize that whatever was on the plexiglass face didn't want to come off. It appears to be a dripping stain of shellac or varnish. I took a rag soaked in warm soapy water, and laid it on the face overnight hoping to loosen the drips, and no dice. It was solid as a rock. So....whats my next step to try and recover this clock? A razor will score the face, and I'm thinking mineral spirits will haze the plexiglass. Any advice with this would much appreciated.

Id try the following: wax and grease remover (used by painters to remove contaminates before painting), and/or bug and tar remover, and/or goof-off. Those are pretty benign chemicals.

...OT, but it's strange how the post for the hands comes right out of the town crier's mouth

I must be missing the hands post there.

Personally I would just live with the stains, I have had no luck in removing that kind on stain on plexiglass. I have considered using head light lens cleaner/polisher but think they are made out of Lexan which is stronger then plexiglass.

I have successfully used a headlight restoration kit to clean up the plexiglass on a coke menu board that I restored. I used Meguiars brand.

You can buff out plastic just like you can buff out paint, it's just the paint but little softer, little easier to burn with a buffer. Do it every once in a while. If you wanted to he could sand out the sap and buff it back to gloss but it a lot of work.

I did try goof off today, I even took the wet rag and let it lay on the edge hoping it would soften the drip but no luck. That stuff stinks to high heaven, you would think it would dissolve metal. I do have a bottle of plastx, made by meguiar's car wax. Its a plastic cleaner and polish, on the bottle it says its great for headlights. It didn't remove anything, but I agree with Paul Bell. If I did use something harsh, and haze the surface, a car buffer and this liquid might bail me out.

I'll keep messing with it. Its a cool clock. The backside of the plexi is etched to form the numbers and logo. Heres a pic of the clock lit up.
Paul

I think if you keep trying you will find a chemical that will remove that sap. I know I've done this but its been so long cant remember what i used. Id start with mild solvent and step up to medium harsh, goof off is really super mild, that's like step 1 in my mind, but like you mention likely to leave a haze as you get harsher. May leave witness marks around the sap. You do want to be careful not to melt the plastic, hard to fix, harder than sanding with 1000 grit and buffing. Problem with buffing plastic is that the swirl marks are hard to get rid of, sometimes, depending on the plastic type. There's always a chance of utter failure with plastics too, since there are so many different types, but usually works out for me.

Good luck!