How to remove swirl marks in Kaboodle benchtop?

[lisa847]

I have swirl marks and minor scratches in my 1 year old kaboodle laminate benchtop, does anyone know how to improve/minimise the appearance?

Its the colour Granite (black with flecks) and is quite glossy so it's showing up all of the marks

[Jason]

Hi @lisa847,

Great to see you make your first post. Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. 

Is it possible to capture the marks in a photo so members can see what you are working with? A photo usually helps get more specific and helpful advice in return. 

I'm sure our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert in @EricL will be happy to share his thoughts when he is online this afternoon.

Thanks,

Jason

[lisa847]

Yes, I'll try to take a picture this afternoon

[EricL]

Hello @lisa847

Allow me to welcome you as well to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about removing swirl marks from your benchtop.

Swirl marks are often caused by cleaning cloths that are dry and have a lot of dust in them. Clothing with polyester and artificial fibres also adds to the creation of these marks on melamine surfaces. The common circular motion of cleaning surfaces also causes the formation of swirl marks on the surface. Using abrasive cleaning pads gives rise to the formation of swirl marks on the surface.

Manufacturers often recommend using cotton cleaning clothes to wipe the benchtop surface to prevent swirls from forming. Melamine products are sealed with a special top coating that gives them a matt or gloss finish. Overpolishing the surface with an electric polisher exposes the actual colour print of the melamine and you could accidentally polish the colour off. Uneven polishing creates high and low spots on the surface of the benchtop. Some parts will be overly shiny others will be very dull.  

Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent swirls from forming again. One way to temporarily disguise your swirls is to use Gilly's 200ml Clear Restoring Polish or similar. The wax will fill in the swirls and effectively disguise them. Changing your cleaning stroke to a back-and-forth pattern will help change the pattern of the swirls. The wax will eventually wear off and you'll need to re-apply it to bring back the sheen on your benchtop.

Let me call on our experienced members @lifestylebymari and @redbournreno for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know. 

Eric

[redbournreno]

Oh no @lisa847 ! That must be disappointing.

Those black Kaboodle benchtops are gorgeous.  With a busy household it can be tempting to get stuck into the cleaning, but you do need to be cautious with glossy surfaces and delicate finishes.

@EricL idea of using the restoring polish sounds good, but I haven't had to try that before.  If it does the trick then change your cleaning products and cloths that you have been using.  Go more gentle. Good luck.

[lisa847]

 I have attached a photo - this is a kaboodle sample I bought and have been trialing different products to see which is the most effective.

I have slightly rubbed a nail file over the surface to replicate the damage to my actual benchtop. 

I have tried Watson Hard Wax and Gillys Restoring Polish. Both of these would work perfectly if it was a wooden surface, but unfortunately made no difference to my sample piece  

[MitchellMc]

In case you were interested, @lisa847, I picked up the same sample to see if the scratches could be cut and polished out of it. Unfortunately, the iridescent particles and pattern are in the topmost layer. By the time I could cut out even the finest of scratches, I was already burning through the pattern. There was no chance of removing the deeper scratches at all. A straight polish without cutting compound made the scratches slightly less noticeable, but once again, the pattern was dulled considerably.

I didn't bother polishing the areas back up again after cutting them back as I could see that the pattern was actually gone and it was just black laminate. 

I also tried several other experiments, like applying heat, but to no avail.

Have you had any success today?

Mitchell

[lisa847]

Hi Mitchell

No success today. I'm thinking it would need to be some sort of lacquer or wax coating applied to the surface to hide the scratches.

Incredibly frustrating.

[MitchellMc]

You know what did work quite well @lisa847? Clear tape. I wonder if you could cover the whole surface with Boyle 1.5m x 45cm Self Adhesive Film - Clear. Not only would it help disguise the scratches but it would provide protection as well. I'm not sure how glossy that film is though and it could be matt.

I believe the reason why the scratches are so noticeable is that they're diffusing the light and not reflecting it back like the surrounding area. You've likely noticed that the underlying material is black, so it's not so much that they're are a different colour. The tape evenly reflects the light back and disguises the scratched areas.

Mitchell