Bringing back the shine to gloss nylon/plastic?

[MartyC]

I've been restoring a Jaguar Seat that had been covered in leather, in order to get the grinder marks out I have been through the various stages of wet and dry and am happy with the work, most if not all of the marks have been removed.  I have worked up the grade to 2000 grit and have then used various types of compound to try and get the "shine" back but at the moment am left with a smooth but dull matt type finish and no matter what I do I can't seem to get that glossy finish back.  I've even tried polishing with a dremel with little to no impact.

Usually my first response when people ask about bringing the glossy shine back to plastic is to reach for the Meguiar's PlastX compound but that just isn't making a difference at all which is a first as I've used it on a couple of other seats although they were Kashimax and not Jaguar.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to get the glossy look back?

[oldschoolace]

Would suggest if the polish you have used didn't work them there is a good chance non will ( assuming you polished at the right level of wet ans dry)

I know you can flame polish some plastics but it's a brave man who tries that.
What about trying a large cotton buffing wheel with a wax stick or something like that

[Munnyella]

I heard that you can use heat, i.e naked flame!!

We did similar on a polyester boat hull years ago.

I'd be shitting myself doing it on a valuable seat though!!

MM

[MartyC]

Would a heat gun work?  Think I would prefer to try one of them rather than a blow torch!

[deeman]

Go up to 3000 grit then T cut....works for me 

[MartyC]

Go up to 3000 grit then T cut....works for me 

Will check it out at the auto store 

[chubby]

Having the same problem with a black elina Perry seat 
T cut didn't do much good on it, now the textured part is full of white shite I can't get out !!!

[deeman]

Having the same problem with a black elina Perry seat 
T cut didn't do much good on it, now the textured part is full of white shite I can't get out !!!

You need to really work it...might need a few goes...don't sit there touching it up!! you should be able to wash away residue with soapy water but you should buff it off before it dries to a powder......

[chubby]

Having the same problem with a black elina Perry seat 
T cut didn't do much good on it, now the textured part is full of white shite I can't get out !!!

You need to really work it...might need a few goes...don't sit there touching it up!! you should be able to wash away residue with soapy water but you should buff it off before it dries to a powder......

Not when some poxy customer comes In & you end up forgetting about it for  a week or so 

[MartyC]

OK, so the heat method doesn't work and I would definitely recommend against using a naked flame.  No real damage done but definitely not that effective, so a little bit more rubbing down to do to remove the small hazing it left and then through the grades again and am going to pick up some 3000 grit pads this weekend  .

[kalex]

I'm sure I've seen on YouTube people using a heat gun on old motocross plastics to bring the shine back after sanding

[Ady]

I used this method on my Race camper plastics as they was weathered matt Gray colour..
Just a heat gun and it turned a shiny gray after but a year later it was fading again..