A Fix For Ring Marks + Scratches

[LexKid630]

I've come up with a perfect fix for getting rid of ring marks and scratches on wood steering wheels!!!

Things to know:

-The wood is covered in a layer of clear acrylic. This gives the shine! If you look closely you can see that the layer of clear acrylic is pretty thick over the wood.

-The tiny indentations in this clear acrylic you see are called ring marks.

These are the items i needed:

-toothpicks

-VERY fine sandpaper

-small piece steel wool

-clear acrylic spraypaint (gloss)

-polishing compound (i used No7 (white))

-swirl remover (i used Meguiar's ScratchX) (make sure it's clear coat safe!!)

-TONS and TONS of clean, SOFT face cloths!!

-wax, you choose. Anything clear coat safe, and that leaves a shiny finish.

-a paper cup of some sort to spray the spraypaint in

for all of us that wear rings, we know how much damage they do to the wood finish on our steering wheels. I have come up with a perfect way to eliminate the tiny indentations and scratches in the clear acrylic to make it look like you just got it. I have done this procedure on my rx300, my wife's es330, and my rx330, and they all look great!! Just make sure this is completed in the shade, in 50-65 degrees F.

Directions for INDENTATIONS (ring marks) in clear acrylic.

1. The first thing you have to do is clean the wood very well to get off all the oils and dirt. Simple soap and water using a SOFT face cloth will do the trick.

2. Spray the clear spraypaint into the clean paper cup about 1 cm high. Keep in a cool, shady place.

3. Dip a toothpick into the paint, to get a small bead of paint at the tip. Hold the toothpick gently and bring it up to the wheel (holding the toothpick vertically, paint end at bottom). find an indentation in the clear acrylic on the wood and touch the tip of the toothpick (with the paint) onto the indentation. The paint should quickly come off the toothpick and fill the hole. If the paint does not fill the indentation completely, repeat until it does. You want the paint to overflow a bit, but not to drip off into your lap, or drip over a good area.

4. Repeat step 3 for EVERY single indentation in the clear acrylic. you may want to do a section, bottom or top at a time so it does not drip. After you do, there should be absolutely no indentaions left, now just bumps!!

5. Wait at least 1 hour to let the paint dry completely. If the paint is not allowed to dry, this could cause more harm than good. Still keep it in the cool weather and in the shade. You want the paint to dry slowely, and thouroughly. I let it dry over night just to be extra safe.

6. When the paint is dry completely, take a small piece of very fine sandpaper, and in small circular motions rub it over the bumps until they're level with the rest of the surface. Make sure not to rub too hard. Repeat this step for each bump before you go to step 7.

Note: when you are using the sand paper, the clear acrylic will start to look more translucent than clear, and may have scratches. This is perfectly ok, this will be fixed in later steps.

7. Take a small piece of steel wool, and in back and forth motions, rub over the area you just did, to make it a bit smoother. It will still appear foggy, and somewhat scratched, but that will go away in the next few steps. Repeat this step for each area before going onto step 8.

8. Next, take your index finger and middle finger and put them together. Wrap a clean face cloth around them so there is only one layer of cloth between your fingertips and the outside world LOL.

9. With your left hand, put some of the polishing compound (No7 white) onto the cloth that's over your fingertips. you matters well put a lot, because you will need it.

10. rub your fingers (long back and forth motions, & make sure to even go onto ares that are not sanded so it looks level) that have the polishing compound on them, onto the wheel, over the areas that you have done. Keep rubbing until the scratchs are gone, and it's just very foggy. Keep whiping the compound away to see what your results are at each few minutes. USE YOUR HANDS ONLY!!! Machines may do too much damage and make the acrylic look uneven. If you use your hands you don't have to worry about doing too much damage. This step may take a LOOONNGGG time depending on how many indentations you had, and how much sanding you did. Repeat this step for each indentation before you go to step 11.

11. Repeat steps 8-10, but using a swirl remover (i used Meguiar's ScratchX). Do this on the whole wheel, not JUST on the areas where indentations were. You can also add a little water to the face cloth if you want.

NOTE: At his point, the wood wheel should look very shiny + scratch-free. There shouldn't be many scratches, but if there are scratches go to the next set of directions.

12. Repeat steps 8-10 but use the wax. just make sure the face cloth is a bit damp with tap water. Follow the directions on the wax. Apply as many coats until you get the finish you want.

Directions for SCRATCHES in clear acrylic.

1. Repeat steps 7-12 in the set of directions above.

Good luck!! But please do not hold me responsible if you try this and make it worse. I am just informing you on my results.

[AmberGS]

WOW!

Does this really work? LexKid, please email me @ kevin30023@yahoo.com We need to chat. :)

[LexKid630]

It really works! I recently found that superglue works better than the clear paint because it dries faster and harder. It also works better if you take the steering wheel off, to machine it instead of using your hands.

Takes a couple of days to do. I'd let the glue dry a full day in the sun, and overnight before i'd sand and buff.

This really does work very well, though!