Over the 18 months of owning our Model S, a number of scuffs and scratches have accumulated on the door sills. I searched our forum here for advice on how to remove, but didn't find anything (maybe buried deeply). So, thought it would help to dedicate a thread to this topic so we can all converge on the very best solution. To start, here is what I did and learned . . .
Important note: Not all the plastics in the car are the same material, so a solution for the door sills may not apply to the other plastics.
I did a bit of research online and found several recommendations to use baking soda and water to remove light scratches and scuff marks from automotive plastics. Using a terry cloth, I started with soap, water and some elbow grease and confirmed that this approach really does nothing to remove the scratches. Then I tried a tablespoon of baking soda on a clean wet terry cloth and scrubbed in circular motions. I taped off the portion I was working to see if it would also somehow change the appearance of the plastic. After polishing and removing the tape, I did indeed see a slight change in the appearance (sheen) of the door sill - photo below tries to highlight. However, after applying the polishing technique to the entire piece, it is possible to blend everything rather well. I did not successfully remove all the scratches, but feel the improvement was quite good. I imagine that if I continued to polish and put in more elbow grease, then I would eventually remove all signs of the wear, but probably also end up with slightly less surface texture.
Conclusion: Baking soda works reasonably well to polish our scratches on the door sills, but you need to buff the whole piece to avoid localized changes in appearance.
If anyone else has found a better approach, please post here!
Important note: Not all the plastics in the car are the same material, so a solution for the door sills may not apply to the other plastics.
I did a bit of research online and found several recommendations to use baking soda and water to remove light scratches and scuff marks from automotive plastics. Using a terry cloth, I started with soap, water and some elbow grease and confirmed that this approach really does nothing to remove the scratches. Then I tried a tablespoon of baking soda on a clean wet terry cloth and scrubbed in circular motions. I taped off the portion I was working to see if it would also somehow change the appearance of the plastic. After polishing and removing the tape, I did indeed see a slight change in the appearance (sheen) of the door sill - photo below tries to highlight. However, after applying the polishing technique to the entire piece, it is possible to blend everything rather well. I did not successfully remove all the scratches, but feel the improvement was quite good. I imagine that if I continued to polish and put in more elbow grease, then I would eventually remove all signs of the wear, but probably also end up with slightly less surface texture.
Conclusion: Baking soda works reasonably well to polish our scratches on the door sills, but you need to buff the whole piece to avoid localized changes in appearance.
If anyone else has found a better approach, please post here!
