How to care for your acrylic display case.

Acrylic is a hard plastic but is still prone to getting scratched if not treated carefully, when you receive your new display case from us it will have already been cleaned with an anti static cleaner which will give extra protection from scratches. When cleaning your acrylic display case NEVER use solvent based cleaners, or window/glass cleaners, they will cause the acrylic to crack, especially at the joints. We recommend using Mr. Sheen furniture polish, it will form an anti static barrier that repels dust and makes it more resistant to scratching. This will only need to be added every 2 – 4 weeks, not every time you dust. Also do not use any spray air fresheners near your display case, they may contain chemicals that can react with the acrylic and cause cracking.

How to remove scratches from acrylic.

If you do scratch your acrylic display case, all is not lost. Light scratches can be removed by using Brasso, or similar metal polish wadding. Just rub the affected area in straight lines going backwards and forwards across the direction of the scratch. You will get a better finish if you slightly change the direction of the strokes each time you go over the scratch. Eventually the scratch will either disappear or fade so much that it cannot be seen unless you know it is there. After you have finished, spray with Mr. Sheen as normal.

How to drill into your acrylic display case.

If you intend to drill holes in your display case please email and ask us for some acrylic offcuts to practice on, we will include them with your display case free of charge. Before drilling you need to regrind your drill bit to a zero rake, so the drill bit scrapes its way through the acrylic, rather than pulling its way through like when you drill metal. Always have something behind the acrylic to drill into, this will help prevent the drill from ‘snatching’ when it gets through the acrylic. We highly recommend to not countersink your holes in acrylic, as nice as you think it will look, eventually you will regret it because once you tighten up the countersunk screw the countersink part of the screw will be constantly pulling the hole apart and eventually cracks will form. It is much better to have a clearance hole for a pan head screw and tighten it up just enough to hold the acrylic, not enough to put pressure on the surface. When fixing long panels, more clearance is needed to allow for the acrylic to expand and contract with temperature changes.

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