Can you buff a shield?

[derost]

So here is the thing... as many of you may experience, I have a bunch of small scratches in the face shield of my helmet, along with some slight "fogging". Can this be buffed out? Has anyone ever tried this? My helmet is a Jarrow (Caberg) Justissimo which means to get a new shield I have to order one from England at 1/3 the price of a new helmet. I love this helmet and would love to be able to help it along. Any thoughts/ advice/ experience would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jaherbst]

Very difficult! You will wind up with wavey gravey to look through.

Jack

 

[derost]

You sound like you have tried this... what did you use (or have seen used)? I know I am asking for a miracle here... just to be clear I was thinking along the lines of an auto polish with a high speed buffer. Am I crazy? Really? Optometrists speak up please!!!

 

[shire2000]

I use Novus on my faceshield and windshield. Using a soft cloth, it will slowly buff out small scratches and help protect against new ones. But, I usually replace my face shield every year. If one is no longer available, I buy a new helmet.

 

[gsaddict]

Faceshields have a coating on the to make them scratch resistant.
I never had any success trying to polish out scratches

 

[PAULBACH]

I had a similar problem and sent a letter to the manufacturer (Nolan). They replace the face shield. But then the helmet was only 2 years old and it did carry a five year warranty.

 

[glenfiddich]

I noticed Griot's Garage offers two types of clay: one is paint cleaning clay with I used with fantastic results on my Mini Cooper, the other is glass cleaning clay which is supposed to remove crud from windshields. I wonder if it would work on visors...but am unwilling to be the first to try it.

 

[Polarbear]

Hmmmm;

My eye doctor uses Lemon Pledge to remove the tinyest scrathes! Its a very old remedy, furniture polish on plastics. LemonPledge is the one to find, because I've tried other brands that do not work as well. If you can feel the scrathes with your finger, you're in trouble and they are not removable. Randy

 

[Crow18]

I haven't tried this, and I don't know of anyone who has, but this might be a possible alternative:

http://maic.jmu.edu/journal/10.2/r&d/heafitz/heafitz.htm

It also might be a stupid waste of a visor.

Bear in mind the visors in the article are 1/4 inch thick, so the amount of time you'd heat a motorcycle helmet visor will be much less. I've been thinking about trying this on some old hockey face shields.

 

[WEZUL]

Clean that shield best you can with a good car wash product.
Then Novus or like products or even Lemon Pledge (yes I heard it works well but attracts yellow jackets, maybe?) and a soft cotton cloth.

The buffer may be too aggressive, even if you are an expert I would expect swirls.

 

[derost]

Thanks for all of the advice. I have an old shield that I will try to work on first. I will document with photos and post the results. Fingers crossed! (OK, that's a thumb)

 

[RTRyder]

The best method would be to use a "headlight restoration" product. Modern car headlights are made in a very similar manner to helmet shields, something like this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O7I7FS should do the job nicely without a lot of residual distortion and should be available at the local auto parts store.

That said, I'd still try it out on an old shield first and not at all on tinted shields unless you're certain the tint is contained in the plastic material and not just a coating applied to the outside.

 

[Brettendress]

I have tried the headlight stuff and it made my visor cloudy. The face shields are very tough plastic. I have successfully used Brasso to buff out scratches on my GS windshield but both the Mcguiers? and the brasso failed to clear the face shield.

Brett Endress
Altoona Pa

 

[RTRyder]

I have tried the headlight stuff and it made my visor cloudy.

I guess it would depend greatly on what the chemical formulation of the shield is and what is in the restorer compound. I've never used the headlight restoration stuff myself, but I have in the past used a "plastic polish" made specifically for face shields and windscreens with good results.

Now when I get a new shield the first thing I do is give it a good cleaning with Plexus and clean it with a soft lint free cloth and a spray of Plexus before each ride. Haven't had any issues with scratches or yellowing since I've been using this method, but I do tend to replace the helmet and shield every 4 years or so.

 

[RTFlyer]

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/aeroshellplexicoat.php

Here's a product used to buff the plexiglass windshields light aircraft. Probably similar to the Novus. I have some but have yet to use it.

 

[OfficerImpersonator]

Plexus

Plexus will buff out small scratches in your visor, on your windscreen, and on your bike's Tupperware. I keep a can in my office, a couple of cans in the garage, and a can on the bike for cleaning my helmet, my windscreen, and spot cleaning my bike.

The product leaves behind a residue that repels water and dirt for a week or so. I heard once that Plexus is the only cleaner recommended by the manufacturer of the windshield of the B-2 Stealth Bomber, which is apparently a $200,000 part

 

[kgadley01]

here's what I did for years before all the cleaners and polishes came out. use tooth paste (not the gel kind) and a wet rag or wash cloth. if you have a Cee-Bailey windshield, the polish/cleaner that comes with the shield also works well...