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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / November 2006

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Thetford Toilet

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Traveling - 18 Nov 2006 14:04 GMT
The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
cleaning by my wife. Is there a polish that will restore the finish?

Thanks

Traveling
Jim Redelfs - 18 Nov 2006 15:11 GMT
> The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
> remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
> cleaning by my wife.

Acrylic = Plastic.

That's not necessarily A Bad Thing<tm>, but it's a fact.  I have a Thetford
Galaxy and am happy with it.  I have yet to scratch the bowl, but I'm sure
doind so wouldn't be too difficult.  If your wife was truly "aggressive" in
cleaning your toilet, particularly if she used an abrasive cleaner, the finish
is probably permanently marred.

> Is there a polish that will restore the finish?

Probably not, depending on just HOW abrasive the cleanings were.

A seven-year old toilet?  Replace it with a good china model and your DW can
go to town cleaning it, probably even with a pumice stone!  Good luck!
Signature

           :)
JR

lgadbois - 18 Nov 2006 19:56 GMT
Difficult stains can sometimes be removed using a liquid cleaner called
"CLR". "Soft Scrub" cleanser can be used without scratching or damaging the
finish.

> The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
> remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Traveling
Randy G. - 19 Nov 2006 17:17 GMT
>The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
>remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
>cleaning by my wife. Is there a polish that will restore the finish?

Most any scratched plastic can be polished. it becomes a matter of how
much time and effort you want to spend. Without seeing or feeling the
depth and extent of the scratching it is difficult to comment but
generally you need to treat it like you would rubbing out paint-

A good place to start would be to try all three of these, in
descending order (3, then 2, then 1):
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=113&
If the #3 doesn't smooth out the surface scratches, start by using
something like 400 or 600 wet/dry and sand it as smooth as possible.
Follow with flour of pumice mixed with water (I have also used it with
WD-40 for polishing metal). Use plenty of water- there should be a
good source handy for that..  ;-)    

Your wife should be able to see herself after that!
 From Randy & Val
1990 30' Rexhal Airex
Janet Wilder - 19 Nov 2006 19:11 GMT
>>The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
>>remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>   From Randy & Val
> 1990 30' Rexhal Airex

If used, those products and the "flour" would wind up in the black tank.
Are they safe for the tank and seals?
Signature

Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

Randy G. - 20 Nov 2006 06:14 GMT
>>>The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
>>>remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>If used, those products and the "flour" would wind up in the black tank.
>Are they safe for the tank and seals?

That is, indeed, a reasonable thing to question. The plastic cleaners
mentioned are dribbled in relatively small amounts on a rag and rubbed
on the plastic by hand and then wiped off in the same manner, much
like waxing a car, so they would not be a problem. The pumice flour
would be used in much the same way as you might use kitchen cleanser
and so would probably not do any more damage than has or might have
been done (in this case) by the scouring powders that would normally
be used to clean such appliances. Still, the pumice could be rinsed
off the bowel with some water, then picked up with a wet/dry vacuum or
sponge and towel to avoid the issue before the flush valve was opened.
The flour of pumice has the consistency of pastry flour, or nearly so,
so any small amount of it that might stray should wash through the
system with little difficulty. Probably less damaging than the hard
water mineral buildup that can, again IMO, do more damage to the seals
of the sliding valves than any of these chemicals or abrasives.

All of this is to say that I would not hesitate to try them if this
were my RV in question, all using reasonable care of course. Acrylic,
in my experience, is fairly easy to polish to a good sheen. Not all
the scratches will ever come out, but the plastic can be made to shine
again. As with all such procedures, try it on an inconspicuous area
first, or if total paranoia sets in, remove the commode from the home
and do the work outside.

BTW- I have used the flour of pumice as described earlier to polish
all sorts of things from acrylic plastic, to electrical contacts, to
stainless steel knife blades. For really hard surfaces, try aluminum
oxide powder.

 From Randy & Val
1990 30' Rexhal Airex
john - 20 Nov 2006 04:08 GMT
> The bowl on our 7 year old Thetford Acrylic Toilet need polishing to
> remove what looks like water stains or the result of an aggressive
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Traveling

If your wife scratched the plastic with a cleanser and soft rag, it's
not hard to polish. Buy some hand rub buffing compound and use a T shirt
to buff the heck out of it. Plastic buffs pretty fast. If you decide to
get olympic and make a buffing tool, like a buffing wheel on a rod, with
an electric drill, keep it moist and buff slow. Certainly under 1500 RPM
so as not to put burn marks into the plastic with the compound. Finish
by hand.
If the plastic is scratched with an abrasive pad, you need to wet sand
down the the scratches with progressively finer "wet or dry" sandpaper.
Start with 400, then 600, maybe even 1000 grit. Then buff with buffing
compound. BTW, hand rub buffing compound is microscopically more course
than machine compound and can be used with a soft cotton cloth and will
work on damned near anything. Machine compound is a finer grit for auto
paint for use with a buffer and it is harder to burn paint with it.
Machine compound is for use with a buffer, always under 1500 rpm. I use
hand rub and a buffer, but if you don't know exactly what you are doing,
you will burn paint or smear plastic using hand rub with a buffer. Hand
rub and a slow buffer will make an Avion, Airstream, etc, look like a
mirror in a few hours. You can also buff out minor scratches on mirrors
and glass, or chrome. If you want glass to look really new, buff it out,
but remember to buff it slowly until the compound is gone, because there
is oil in the compound and it will leave streaks. Streaks can be buffed
out using products like Liquid Ebony or Maquire finishing products. You
can buff brass, silver, epoxy table tops, lacquered wood, tile, SS
sinks, tail lights, whatever. Sometimes I buff out my tools.
 
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