Any one know any good ideas/products for keeping the black plastic cup holder covers and transparent stereo surround plastic clean and scratch free? I purchased a soft cloth for dust when the car was new and committed to never touch either area with a greasy finger tip. I now have several faint scratch lines from lightly dusting the plastics with this cloth. Anyone else notice how fragile that surface is?
I'm terribly afraid that any scratching that occurs on the stereo surround and cupholders will be inevitable. Being careful with those surfaces is the best advice. When I dust the vehicle, I use a Swiffer duster. I feel certain that there is less friction than a regular soft cloth and of course the Swiffer traps dirt fairly easily and when the duster is full I can just toss it. My Prius isn't very old, but I have some hairline scratches on the surface of the cupholder lids. I'm not sure how they go there, however I'm inclined to believe that it isn't abuse, but regular vehicle usage. I continue to be careful, however I don't have high hopes that in 10 years they will look perfect.
As soon as I saw it I knew these would be problems. I suggest a good waxing with a plastic protectorant. My comment to my wife when I had my Prius for a couple of days was: "It's like sitting in a VCR". All that shiny plastic! The static buildup is pretty bad. Dust sticks to it like a magnet.
I have not tried it on the car, however, I have had good results removing minor scratches from a cell phone screen using BLUEMAGIC Plastic & Plexiglass Cleaner and Light Scratch Remover. I bought it at an auto supply store.
I can tell what not to use: I tried Plastx from Meguiar's. It is made for getting rid of light scratches in auto plastics It was too abrasive for this very soft plastic. FWIW, it was also too abrasive for the interior door trim... Stay away from the cheap stuff in the auto parts store, too. Looking forward to hear what works.
I tried a plastic cleaner and polish from Zaino Bros. on the cup holders, it seemed to work pretty well. I will be putting on the other interior plastic parts this weekend. Supposed to be good on plastic windscreens so it should be mild enough for this plastic.
