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Remove scratches from Aluminium Unibody Macbook

F

FriedPotatoes

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 17, 2008
22
0
Found a small scratch on the lid of my fairly new unibody macbook. My first one:eek: But hey, it's probably bound to happen one of these days. Anyone have any bright ideas to remove it? This is what I've tried so far in a logical step in a progressively abrasive fashion:

1. Simple glass cleaner (thought it was dirt when I first saw it)
2. iKlear Apple Cleaner
3. Klasse Scratch and Swirl Remover (German car polish)
4. Meguiar's Nxt Gen Metal Polish

Klasse and Meguiar's have somewhat made scratch less noticeable, but still there....

Thanks for your help.
 
FriedPotatoes said:
Found a small scratch on the lid of my fairly new unibody macbook. My first one:eek: But hey, it's probably bound to happen one of these days. Anyone have any bright ideas to remove it? This is what I've tried so far in a logical step in a progressively abrasive fashion:

1. Simple glass cleaner (thought it was dirt when I first saw it)
2. iKlear Apple Cleaner
3. Klasse Scratch and Swirl Remover (German car polish)
4. Meguiar's Nxt Gen Metal Polish

Klasse and Meguiar's have somewhat made scratch less noticeable, but still there....

Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

It's now one of a kind. Not being a jerk, but look at it in a positive way. You did say "it's bound to happen", and so it did.

You could get a cover for it that's always on the machine if you don't like looking at it, or just be more careful going forward.

:) Just think of it as a war wound maybe - character (like the lines you get when you smile too much :D)?
 
this is a maybe, but if you get a skin/shield, the scratch will be less noticeable.

i think previous reviews said that the skin/shield made the scratch less noticeable. i don't remember if it was for a white macbook or for an aluminum macbook pro. (it was a while back)

also

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/entry/radtech-ice-creme-version-2-scratch-remover-ipod

this removed quite a few scratches from the back of the chrome-backed ipods. the pictures are quite astonishing.

but again, the products you have already used might be superior to the ones i have suggested.
 
brushed aluminum is a difficult surface to clean and it will be hard to eliminate scratches.
 
if you can't buff it out with Meguiar's, then you problably aren't going to be able to polish it away.

the same thing happened ot me with my belt buckle on the bottom of my unibody macbook.

deffinatly look into the incase brand for a hardshell, live in case for your macbook.

the clear case will blur out the scratch and it will be harder to notice.

or if you want, you could get an opaque case with a preeeeeetty color, like... pink :D
 
I got my first tiny scratch on the lid of my MacBook as well - just noticed it yesterday.

Until there's some "this is 100% how you remove small scratches" technique, I'm just gonna let her be.
 
I would just say get a invisible shield when you first get your macbook and you won't have to worry anymore.
 
I have actually tried this and it works very well. When you scratch an aluminum MacBook Pro body, it tends to darken the area (and may also dent it slightly).

I used "Nev-R-Dull" brand metal polish, which comes in a tin pre-soaked into shredded cotton.

http://housewares.hardwarestore.com/35-176-metal-polishes/wrights-silver-polish-cream-101821.aspx

I simply scrubbed the scratches very gently with a small wad of the cotton batting. Eventually the scratches lightened to a bright silver color that matched the rest of the MacBook. You can't get the matte finish back under any circumstances but this was a huge improvement - you can't see the scratches from any distance at all now.

Best I've found.

Zach
 
i saw someone do it with a banana. dont know if it works. gonna try with my touch :)
 
When I got my MBP unibody, I got an INCASE skin for it. Because I never once scratched my old MBP and wanted to good care of the new one too... So I paid almost 60 dollars for the one that the smart mac people recommended... But I needed to get it off, and after trying for a loooong time and hurting my fingers... I even tried goggling how to get that freaking INCASE off... but no luck.. It finally came off but ended up scratching the corners and one right under the apple... It doesn't seem deep and I still have to try with some Iklear, because he told me in the store it would remove small scratches, so thats why I bought it.. I'm so sad about it :(
My ipod and iphone has no scratches at all, so I'm furious, at myself, because I could have tried different things, but somebody spilled a little water on the table so that I got some on my computer and I needed to dry the covers inside, since some got under it.. But I'm also furious I got that stupid cover that doesn't come off at all.. The other covers I had for my old MBP worked perfectly, it came right off when you needed it, and came perfectly back on again... And they were cheaper than the ones for the Unibody...
I really hope that something can minimize it, I'll even try a banana!!
 
sandbeats said:
When I got my MBP unibody, I got an INCASE skin for it. Because I never once scratched my old MBP and wanted to good care of the new one too... So I paid almost 60 dollars for the one that the smart mac people recommended... But I needed to get it off, and after trying for a loooong time and hurting my fingers... I even tried goggling how to get that freaking INCASE off... but no luck.. It finally came off but ended up scratching the corners and one right under the apple... It doesn't seem deep and I still have to try with some Iklear, because he told me in the store it would remove small scratches, so thats why I bought it.. I'm so sad about it :(
My ipod and iphone has no scratches at all, so I'm furious, at myself, because I could have tried different things, but somebody spilled a little water on the table so that I got some on my computer and I needed to dry the covers inside, since some got under it.. But I'm also furious I got that stupid cover that doesn't come off at all.. The other covers I had for my old MBP worked perfectly, it came right off when you needed it, and came perfectly back on again... And they were cheaper than the ones for the Unibody...
I really hope that something can minimize it, I'll even try a banana!!
Click to expand...

I think that once you scratch brushed aluminium then you can't get the brushed look back without machining the entire surface again. I scratched the top of my new MBP: 2 inches along the top:eek: I got a bad mobo and Apple replaced it with a brand new cosmetically perfect laptop :):rolleyes:
 
I've used wet 800 grit sandpaper on an old alum. powerbook that was covered in scratches and it removed them. But not guaranteed.
 
Everything Apple makes in aluminum is anodized, not brushed. It the finish were brushed it would be a lot easier to fix. You could just use steel wool or even a green scrubby pad - 3M, whatever - and "rebrush" it. Unfortunately, you can't reanodize it. At home, anyway :rolleyes:
 
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lmao are you seriously trying to clean off a scratch? do you know what a scratch is?
 
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Can prevent it from happening.

Yeah it sucks to find that first scratch on your MB or IPad or anything for that matter. Think of it as a battle scar. You can have it in a FB shield from Zagg's or BodyGuardz but I guarantee you that it will still get scratched no matter what you try. I have a MB Pro, iPad 1&2 and have tried my best to keep scratches from forming but the simple fact of the matter is that nothing will protect it 100%. you can only do your best and hope for the best unless you wear microfiber gloves and wash it in bottled water air dried...there is just no way you can keep it scratch less unless you leave it in the box it came in but even then dust dirt will get to it and I bet you'll still find a scratch on it.
 
amrk47 said:
someone try Meguiars scratch x 2.0

if that doesnt work, nothing will
Click to expand...

Tried Meguiars Scratch X 2.0...IT WORKED! Scratched the palm rest of my brand new MBP. Multiple passes w/ just a tiny drop of the product per application. Rubbed it gently with my finger tip and slowly took out the scratch...no damage to the anodized surface of the surrounding aluminum either.
 
mercurychild said:
Tried Meguiars Scratch X 2.0...IT WORKED! Scratched the palm rest of my brand new MBP. Multiple passes w/ just a tiny drop of the product per application. Rubbed it gently with my finger tip and slowly took out the scratch...no damage to the anodized surface of the surrounding aluminum either.
Click to expand...

Was this easy to do? I have a tiny scratch (2mm or so) on my lid, would it work on that you think? Do you have to apply a lot of pressure, cause if so I am worried about damaging the screen :eek:
 
mercurychild said:
Tried Meguiars Scratch X 2.0...IT WORKED! Scratched the palm rest of my brand new MBP. Multiple passes w/ just a tiny drop of the product per application. Rubbed it gently with my finger tip and slowly took out the scratch...no damage to the anodized surface of the surrounding aluminum either.
Click to expand...

After was there any discolouration on the aluminum unibody?
 
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