Melted Dust Cover

Somebody gave me a technics sl-d20 turntable. Trouble is he tried to clean the dust cover with Goo-Gone and there is melted spots on the top. Is there anything else I can do besides buying a new cover?

Thanks Jon
 
You can usually sand and polish just about anything out of a dust cover. Maybe post a photo?
 
As Aerobat said Post some pics. Ive seen cigarette burns sanded out of covers so depending on bad yours are you should be able to fix it.
 
Ouch! Meguiars's Headlight Restore Kit may help, depending how deep the Goo-Gone penetrated the plastic.
 
Start sanding. Go to finer and finer grades of sanding sponges then switch to polish. An electric buffer helps speed the process.
 
Jon, before you start sanding, try polishing compound or toothpaste on a damp cloth to see if the cloudiness is just surface damage. It's hard to tell from the photo how bad the damage is. I've never had Goo Gone react like that. And do a search for polishing a turntable cover. There is a lot of info out there. I try to do sanding as a last resort, but sometimes it is the only option. Good luck.

Walt
 
It might have been goof-off, which is more like lighter fluid. Goo gone is pretty mild stuff.
 
After it happened on the first spot, you gotta wonder why he kept going. Is your friend a Bigfoot? :rflmao:

Seriously though, anyone want to suggest a starting grit here? You basically have to go from there to polish in increments, so you don't want to start at 80 grit if 180 will work.
 
My 2 cents. If you are a wood worker start with a good steel scraper with a freshly turned edge. Be sure the corners are rounded enough to prevent gouging. You can find demos on YouTube. A good scraper technique (not with a paint scraper!) will produce a finish on wood that does not need further sanding. This should be much faster than sanding and should get you to about 2000 grit very quickly. If you can find 6000 or 4000 wet dry paper use it wet and then go to polishing compound. Turning the edge on a flat steel scraper is a skill you will need or maybe someone can do this for you. Don't try this without some practice on another piece of scrap plastic. A scraper can be had for about $10. Woodcraft is one source.
Keep us posted on your progress.
;)
 
I've never heard of using a woodworking scraper on plastic. Have you done this successfully? I know the type you mean; I've tried it a bit when I was living with an instrument maker.
 
I have never used the method I suggested. However, I have cleaned headlight lenses and found 2000 grit wet dry paper comes close to good enough. If the top has been "etched" with a previous cleaner the plastic may be damaged deeper than what seems to be the obvious problem. If that is the case you are probably SOL, and sanding or scraping will not produce the result you want. You may be able to evaluate the damage further by gently pressing a nail set into one area (for example). You could also gently scrape an area with a new single edged razor blade. If the damaged area feels hard you are probably good to go with whatever method you choose.
 
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