I'm prepping my 24 year old John Deere mower for winter storage and the plastic hood is looking pretty ragged. Waxing helped, but it should really be rubbed out first.

Never done it, can I use any old rubbing compound for paint or do I need to be concerned about the plastic?

It it colored plastic or actually painted?

I'd start with a clay bar

id not use too harsh a grit of compound with a smooth foam pad on DA

Meguiars105 followed by any wax. That will clean up any auto/farm/plastic painted surface without damage. I use it on neglected auto paint works really great. You cannot do damage with it if you tried, but its still the most aggressive cleaner the company makes.

Clay bar after washing as other poster said is good, before polish cleaning. The order is wash, clay bar, cleaning polish, wax. Use a modern polymer based wax, not a show car natural wax.

Give me a call

For to 5 tree 01 0790

If it is polycarbonate (look for a "7" in a triangle on the back side of the hood) and depending on current scratch depth, you can use wet dry grits.

I finish with 2500 or 3000 and then use fine polish like turtle wax swirl scratch remover, and then final polish with Gel-Gloss kitchen and bath polish.

It will look like cut and buffed paint when your done.

Not sure how large an area, so you can use mechanical until the last sanding stage, keeping things plenty wet.

A pump spray bottle with wetting agent, like water and a few drops of Dawn or ammonia if you can tolerate the odor.

Try a small area and see how it turns out.

You can use toothpaste as a final polish if you don't have the other stuff for your "test".

Thanks for all the advice!

Not planning to take it to the Pebble Beach concours d'elegance just want to clean up the paint a little and put a decent wax job on it.

Couldn't find any casting marks on it anywhere, so not sure what sort of plastic it is or whether or not it's solid color or painted. One of the deeper scratches makes me think it's solid color tho.

Found a clay bar I'd half-forgotten I had and a bottle of clay lube so I clayed it good to get the grit and dirt off. And, incidentally, a lot of red overspray I didn't realize was on there from painting my snowblower while the tractor was parked nearby.

I'll get a can of cleaning polish and rub it out with that and then wax it and it'll look better than it has in years.

Thanks again...

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
Give me a call

For to 5 tree 01 0790

Thanks, but with my hearing loss I can just about manage a conversation face-to-face. Phone calls are a major PITA for me.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
with my hearing loss I can just about manage a conversation face-to-face. Phone calls are a major PITA for me.

You mean I'm not the only one?

You live in Maine (as I do) and you have a 24 yo lawn mower you are detailing. I hope your neighbors don't get wind of it. Mine lives outdoors 7x24x365.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
You live in Maine (as I do) and you have a 24 yo lawn mower you are detailing. I hope your neighbors don't get wind of it. Mine lives outdoors 7x24x365.

This one has been garaged when not in use since new, and the deck has been removed, scraped, wire-brushed and painted every Fall before storing it for the Winter. Oil and filter changed, chassis and deck greased and battery removed and stored in the basement.

1994 John Deere LX178 with the Kawasaki water cooled V twin. Never put a nickle into it outside batteries, belts and blades. No, wait, I did put a new seat pad on it this year. Other than paint, you couldn't tell it from new, runs like a watch, starts instantly.

I suspect it'll outlive me. I sure hope so, cuz I paid something like $5K for it 24 years ago, I'd hate to think what the current equivalent would cost.