From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Remodeling Ideas

Tips to Eliminating Scratches on Acrylic Kitchen Benchtops

8 August 2016

Mila Legrand

Over the years, more and more homeowners have opted to use acrylic as their choice material for their kitchen benchtops. This is because this material tends to be an economical alternative when compared to other popular benchtop materials such as natural stone and solid wood. In addition to this, acrylic comes in an array of colours so you get the chance to enhance the aesthetics of your kitchen with your benchtop. However, acrylic tends to be prone to scratches. As such, you may need to embark on some repairs to keep it in pristine condition. The following are some handy tips to eliminating scratches that your acrylic benchtop may have acquired.

Assemble the tools you will require

The tools you would need for this undertaking are few. They include an abrasive liquid, some rags and a wet sanding pad or a dry sanding pad. Ensure that you thoroughly clean the surface of the benchtop to get rid of any residual grime that could be on it. This is because if you start sanding out the scratches on dirty acrylic, the dirt particles will simply become embedded on the benchtop's surface.

Start sanding out the the scratches individually

Once you start sanding, ensure that you do this in one direction and not in a back and forth motion. Sandpaper will come in various degrees of abrasiveness. For scratches that have a deep groove, use sandpaper that is 220 grit. For scratches that can be felt by the tip of your nail, use sandpaper that is 320 grit. Fine scratches will need the use of sandpaper that is 400 grit while barely noticeable scratches will need sandpaper with 600 grit.

Re-sand the scratched areas with an opposite motion

Proceed to continue with the sanding but this time you should change the direction you were sanding in to the opposite direction. Continue this process until you get all the way to the finest sanding paper. Make sure that you change direction with each different level of sanding. When you are sanding your acrylic benchtop, never make the mistake of doing it in a circular motion. This will barely eliminate the scratches and will also cause swirls to appear on the surface of the acrylic.

Wipe the benchtop clean

With every level of sanding, ensure that you increase the area that you are working on by about four inches. This will avoid you causing a dent in the area that you are trying to remove the scratch from. It will also avoid distortion of the acrylic by constantly sanding down one particular point. Once you are satisfied the scratch has been removed, clean the area with water and a little detergent.

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