Nasty Helmet Scuffs

[Shears]

Hey all --

 

Long story short, my bucket got scuffed in a cross-country move. The motorcycle helmet bag I purchased had some seams on the inside that did a number on the shiny white helmet. Pretty bummed as the scratches are in prominent spots. Any ideas on how to fix? This is the 2016 anovos bucket. It almost looks like a layer of white was taken off revealing grey underneath in places, but the earpiece seems to have discolored without scratching? Open to any ideas here, though a relative noobie. Thanks in advance!

 

 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

If it's just scratches, you should be able to remove them with an automotive product. I like Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Meguiar's ScratchX 2.0. They're quite gentle, smell nice, remove scratches well and give ABS an outstanding shine and polish. They're a lot more aggressive than the often-recommended Novus Plastic Polish, but not extremely so. I've taken medium cut rubbing compound to my armor before with no ill effects, but if you're using a machine polisher for some reason, go a bit easier with Ultimate Compound vs the Novus stuff.

 

My guess is that the ear stuff is metal contact with the zipper. It should buff off easily. The scratches on the front will take more work but should also buff up to 90% of the current condition.

 

Good luck!

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Usually automotive polish is enough, on rare occasions for the large marks I use automotive cutting compound. Many use the Novus polishes, they come in different grades.

 

[Shears]

Thanks you both, @revlimiter @gmrhodes13 --

I had Novus on hand so I gave that a swing first (3 and 2). It definitely helped in some areas, but I'm not much better off on the front. I can't feel the indents of scratches, but the color marking is still there (See photo below). It almost feels like a little daub of paint would do the trick. Is that ill advised? Or just something that would bleach out that bluish gray. Thanks again. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

This is were a cutting compound may help, it's a thicker substance/grain compared to normal polish, spray painters use it to help cut back orange peel so you get an even shine, it's also great for getting rid of scuff marks and in some cases small scratches, it may be worth a try if you can find it locally.

 

 

 

[revlimiter[Staff]]

Rubbing (cutting) compounds have various grades and grits like sandpaper. Ultrafine removes much less paint (or plastic) than a medium grit compound. And above rubbing compound is a polishing compound like the previously mentioned ScratchX and Ultimate Compound.

 

All of these are much more aggressive than Novus and will actually be able to remove the scratches.

[Shears]

Thanks again - I've got some Ultimate Compound arriving tomorrow. I'll give it a go and report back. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

6 hours ago, Shears said:

Thanks again - I've got some Ultimate Compound arriving tomorrow. I'll give it a go and report back. 

You can use this wet too to help the compound flow better if needed, just use a wet rag/cloth when applying

[Shears]

Hey @revlimiter and @gmrhodes13 -- thank you SO much for the suggestions here. I spent a while last night with the Ultimate Compound and those trouble spots are all but gone. 

In case anybody else has this issue in the future:

I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound  with a microfiber round at first, similar to this. I really wasn't getting anywhere and started to feel disheartened. I eventually switched to plain paper towel which seemed to work a lot better, and gave me more control as to pressure/angle/precision. A small buffing tool would've certainly helped because I had to polish for a LONG time to get this discoloration out. I also probably used more compound that I needed, but it's hard to say. Using it pretty generously definitely seemed to help. 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, great to see you had success