While cleaning the wife's fit and previous camry I never found a great product/method to clean the plastic that covers the instrument cluster. It get's dusty and dirty, which ends up leaving micro scratches and marring on the finish. Nothing worse than checking your speed and seeing that poor finish over and over.

I've tried invisible glass, detailing spray, and waxing it once it's cleaned. Nothing makes it look like new again.

Tips?

 

I use 1Z Cockpit Premium to clean my instrument cluster, but I have not attempted to remove scratches. You might experiment with one of these two products:

Meguiar's PlastX (available from local auto stores)

Novus Fine Scratch Remover

I would use a foam applicator for either product.

 

I'd avoid using anything with ammonia, like Windex, because it can haze plastics.

PlastX is a good plastic polish to get scratches out. Then you can use a plastic cleaner like Plexus to clean it.

 

The problem is getting in there to do the work.
I typically use a soft MF and Meg's QID, but scratches seem inevitable with such soft plastic.

I think I'm going to experiment with this myself. Probably start with a few applications of Plexus.

Maybe you could mask the cluster surrounds and hit it with a fine foam polishing bit on a drill with a light plastic polish like Meg's #10/#17?

 

Plexus is the best product for that job...i use it also for my headlights...awesome result!

 

The BEST thing you can use is that product that APPLE use to clean there laptop's. I had the same problem untill I though about it and use it. Believe me is the BEST.

 

^^^Good idea. Those soft clothes and cleaning solution meant for cleaning LCDs would probably work wonders. Then follow with wax to protect.

 

Don't use wax. It will scratch your cluster, the apple product that I use already contains a wax and it will live the surface of your cluster very soft. Car wax are meant for the outside of your car and paint and very often they will live scratches on the surface.

 

Wax scratch? Unless you didn't clean correctly the surface, wax won't never scratch it...

 

I agree. Actual wax is completely non-abrasive. But using it on light plastic might require a bit of elbow grease to get off, leading to marring from your removal towel. Something like Zymol Cleaner Wax, on the other hand, has abrasives in it... Then again, I don't consider that wax. Or worth using. Ever.