Best Acrylic Window Scratch Repair Kits (2026)

The best and worst thing about acrylic is that it is soft. Soft means it scratches when a dry paper towel drags grit across it. Soft also means that, unlike glass, the scratch can be sanded and polished back to optical clarity with the right abrasive and half an hour. Every acrylic storm window, boat hatch, RV pane, and aquarium panel will eventually need this, so it is worth owning the right kit before you need it.

There are only three products worth buying. Everything else on the shelf is either one of these under another label, a metal polish that will do more harm than good, or toothpaste.

First, judge the scratch

Run a fingernail across it.

• You cannot feel it, but you can see haze or a fine line. A polish will fix it. Start with NOVUS 2 or PlastX.
• Your nail catches slightly. NOVUS 3 followed by 2 will usually get it, or start Micro-Mesh at 3600.
• Your nail drops into it. This is a sanding job. Start Micro-Mesh at 1500, or with 400-grit wet-and-dry paper first if it is a gouge, and work up through every grit.

One warning applies to everything below: do not use abrasives on coated acrylic. Abrasion-resistant marine sheet, UV-coated panels, and anything sold as "AR" or "hard-coated" has a thin surface layer that polishing will cut through, leaving a permanent dull patch. NOVUS says so on the bottle. If the window is coated, live with the scratch or replace the panel.

Our picks at a glance

How we evaluated

We have not run a controlled abrasion test. Rankings come from manufacturer instructions, plastics-supplier guidance, and the collected experience of pilots, boat owners, pen turners, and photographers who have used these products for years, weighed on what each one can fix, how forgiving it is for a first-timer, and what it costs per square foot restored.

1. NOVUS Plastic Polish 1-2-3 Kit

Best Overall. NOVUS is the polish TAP Plastics, Acme Plastics, and ePlastics all stock, and it is the one to keep under the sink. The system is three bottles. NOVUS 2 Fine Scratch Remover takes out haze, fine scratches, and light abrasion. NOVUS 3 Heavy Scratch Remover is a coarser compound for scratches and abrasions that 2 cannot shift; you follow it with 2 to clear the marks 3 leaves. NOVUS 1 Clean and Shine is the final step and the routine cleaner: it leaves an antistatic finish that resists fogging and repels dust, which is why acrylic cleaned with it stays clean longer.

The 2-ounce three-bottle kit is around $10 to $15 at Home Depot, Walmart, and plastics suppliers, and the 8-ounce kit with polishing cloths runs about $25 on Amazon. A 2-ounce set does a surprising number of windows.

The limits are honest ones. NOVUS itself says scratch removal is not guaranteed and depends on depth and technique. It will not fix a gouge, and users on the pen-turners' forum note that 3 can leave its own fine haze if you do not follow it thoroughly with 2. And it is for uncoated plastic only.

NOVUS 8 oz 1-2-3 kit on Amazon or 2 oz kit at The Home Depot

2. Micro-Mesh Acrylic Restoral Kit

Best for Deep Scratches. Micro-Mesh was developed to restore aircraft canopies, which are acrylic, expensive, and scratched by everything. The abrasive grains sit on a cushioned cloth backing, so they rock rather than gouge, and the result is a finish that goes from a sanded matte to optical clarity without the swirl marks ordinary sandpaper leaves.

The Aircraft Spruce kit (Micro-Mesh model KR-70) is $36.85 and contains six 3-by-6-inch sheets in 1500, 1800, 2400, 3600, 4000, and 6000 grit, a 2-ounce bottle of Micro-Gloss liquid abrasive for the final polish, a foam sanding block, and two flannel cloths. It is rated to restore up to 30 square feet.

The method is wet sanding. Keep the surface and the cloth wet, work in light overlapping strokes, alternate direction with each grit, rinse between grits, and do not skip any. Moderate scratches start at 1500 or 2400; deep ones start at 1500 and stay there until the scratch is gone before moving up. A gouge gets 400-grit wet-and-dry paper first. Finish with Micro-Gloss or NOVUS 2 and buff. Users report kits lasting fifteen years of occasional use.

The cost is labor. One pilot's review warns that restoring an entire canopy this way is far too much work and that a rushed job leaves micro-scratches. For a single deep scratch on a storm window or a hatch lens, it is exactly the right tool.

Micro-Mesh Acrylic Restoral Kit at Aircraft Spruce or the same kit on Amazon

3. Meguiar's PlastX

Best for Haze and Cloudiness. PlastX is a car-care product, sold for headlights, but the label lists Plexiglas and plastic convertible windows because it is the same chemistry. A thick gel that does not run, it carries a fine polishing compound that clears oxidation, chemical haze, yellowing, and surface contamination, plus polymers that fill the finest scratches and leave a water-resistant protective layer. A 10-ounce bottle is about $12 at any auto parts store.

What it does, it does well and quickly, and reviewers who sanded first and finished with PlastX report windows that look new. What it does not do is remove a scratch you can feel. Reviewers who bought it for that were disappointed. Think of it as NOVUS 1 and 2 in one bottle, with more protection and less cutting power.

Meguiar's PlastX on Amazon

What not to use

Brasso and other metal polishes. The abrasive is wrong for acrylic and will leave a haze worse than the scratch you started with. Skip it, despite what the internet says.

Toothpaste. A non-gel paste with baking soda is a mild abrasive and will dull a very light scratch on a plastic watch face. On a window it leaves a cloudy patch that you then need NOVUS to remove. Buy the NOVUS.

Glass cleaner with ammonia. Not a scratch remover, but worth saying: ammonia crazes acrylic. Use NOVUS 1, a plastic-safe cleaner, or plain water and a microfiber cloth.

Dry paper towels. The reason you are reading this article.

The method that works

1. Wash the panel with water and a soft cloth to get every bit of grit off it.
2. Judge the scratch with your fingernail and pick the starting point above.
3. If sanding, keep everything wet, use light pressure, alternate stroke direction with each grit, and rinse before moving up. Never skip a grit.
4. Polish with NOVUS 3 then 2, or Micro-Gloss, using a clean cloth in straight or gentle circular strokes.
5. Finish with NOVUS 1 or PlastX for the antistatic, protective layer.
6. Clean it properly from now on: wet cloth, plastic-safe cleaner, never dry.

Our acrylic vs glass guide explains why acrylic scratches the way it does, and how a hard-coated grade avoids the problem in the first place.

Sources

• NOVUS Plastic Polish: 2 oz kit and 8 oz kit; NOVUS kit at The Home Depot and at Acme Plastics
• Aircraft Spruce: Micro-Mesh Acrylic Restoral Kit, 30 square feet
• Moleroda: How to remove scratches from acrylic with Micro-Mesh
• Meguiar's PlastX at Meguiar's and at AutoZone
• The Car Resource: Best plastic polish, PlastX, NOVUS, and Griot's compared
• International Association of Penturners: Not entirely happy with Novus
• ShunPoly: Can Brasso remove scratches from plastic
• ePlastics: Plastic polish, cleaner, and scratch removers