Upon Receiving your order
We recommend leaving the paper or plastic films in place until you are ready to use the acrylic, this will ensure your acrylic stays perfect and clean until you need to apply labels or stickers. You can peel back a corner to check the colour and then restick this covering.
All acrylic is shipped with a protective coating, for general acrylic colours such as clears, whites and blacks, it will appear as though we have sent wood, the protective film is generally brown in colour and is applied to both sides.
For mirrors, protective film will be applied on one side, this is generally clear in appearance and in some cases can look like your acrylic has arrived scratched! Fear not because this film can be removed and the perfect surface underneath will be revealed. The grey backing is not to be removed as its what provides the “Mirror”.
Removal of the paper or film back can be aided by using another piece of acrylic, fingernails or a really sharp knife to lift up the corner (be very careful with that last one). It can be difficult on mirrors and appear like there is nothing to peel, we assure you that we don’t ship acrylic with out the film, so keep at it 😉
Cleaning and Scratch Prevention
Acrylic by nature is incredibly strong, but with strength, comes great scratchability. That is why we recommend leaving the films applied until you are ready to use it. Being experts in the field and having over 10 years experience working with acrylic in both the Aerospace and Engineering Industry as well as general signage and fabrication, we guarantee that we will ship you a quality product with a perfect edge finish, we also know how to clean Acrylic and what you can and can’t use to remove scratches and fingerprints.
Yes
- Isopropanol Alcohol (Not on Mirror Acrylic)
- Warm Soapy Water
- Vuplex
- Lens Cleaner (Non solvent based)
- Soft, damp viscose sponge
- Sponge cloth
- Chamois leather
- Glove-lining fabric
- Cotton tea-towel
- Shower squeegee with soft rubber lip
- Damp microfiber cloth for the final touch (e.g., Vileda® Microclean)
NO
- Alcohols other then Isopropanol
- Acetone
- Nail Polish Remover
- Methylated spirits
- Dry Clothes
- Window Cleaning Sprays in General
- Anything not listed in the “Yes” List
If you have scratches in the acrylic that is hard to remove, a high grade finishing polish and soft cloth can be used to “polish” out the defects.
Removing Vinyl decal residue is best accomplished by a small amount of Isopropanol Alcohol (Use Vuplex as an alternate for Mirror Acrylic) with a lint free cloth, such as a general lens cleaning cloth.
Night Light Cleaning is best achieved by pairing the blanks and base purchase with our packaging kit, we include a cloth specially picked for removing finger prints from the inserts with out damaging the surface. Failing that, use a lens cleaning cloth with either Iso Alcohol or Vuplex (available from eBay etc).
Acrylic is also UV stable by default and our acrylic has a 30 year guarantee for holding its colour in the outdoors.