Hi there,
I own an online jewelry business that I have had for about 2 years now. I laser cut everything out of acrylic and up until these past few months I have been able to achieve a pretty clean product, the odd part being I haven’t changed anything about my process along the way. I use the Novus cleaners if and when I get any scratches and before it would come off no problem. Now I have been noticing that when I use the Novus #2 or #3 I get a super hazy surface that looks like I ran a piece of steel wool across it.
A piece that has the scratches I was trying to buff out.
I have tried two different types of microfiber clothes just in case that was the issue since Novus has been the most recommended acrylic cleaning product I have seen, especially for removing scratches.
This is after I tried using Novus #2, and all of these little scratches in a circular pattern from where I scrubbed showed up.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips on what could be causing it or recommendations on a better process for cleaning it would be appreciated!
Looks like your towels may have been contaminated with fine grains of dust created when the acrylic is cut, or dried Novus #3.
I typically use three or four separate microfiber towels when cleaning acrylics, one moistened with Novus #1 Acrylic Cleaner to dust the edge of the pieces before removing any masking, then again after removing the masking and during assembly. I will only use the #2 polish after assembly ,if needed to remove light scratches or adhesive buildup, and rarely use #3. I use #3 to remove heavy scratches because it’s the most abrasive of the set.
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Okay good to know. Is there a specific type or brand of the microfiber towels that you use?
I buy them at Home Depot, but since they are almost exclusively used for polishing of some sort, I keep them separated from all other towels. I wash and dry them together, and always toss them if they get anything on them that hardens in any way.
I agree your cloths have been cross contaminated or dusty.
Update! I went and bought new microfiber towels from home depot and just got my new bottle of the Novus 2 just in case it was old. I kept the towel I used with the novus #1 polish and the #2 separate as I attempted this on fresh out of the package towels and again no luck. I am so confused as to why this would be happening even after these steps. Any thoughts because its driving me insane and ruining so much of what I cut!
Glowforge|375x500
Try switching to a soft cotton towel, or better yet, an old t-shirt for your next attempt at polishing. See what type of finish you get using a different material because there are limited influences here, towels, polish, and environment. Replace the towels, make sure that it’s not dusty, and see what happens.
