Just picked up No. 1's smart phone and the screen looks as if she's been using it to polish bricks.
Any bright ideas as to how I can polish them out? Nothing sophisticated will be available here, or affordable if it is, so smart simple suggestions would be welcome.
She's not having a new one, and I'm not spending any money on it since her Birthday is January and the problem will be resolved then.
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Well I would say jewellers rouge and a lot, and I mean a lot, of hard polishing - a pad on a dremmel type tool.
If you can't get the rouge, try tooth whitening powder.
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>> tooth whitening powder
Not toothpaste?
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>> No. 1's smart phone and the screen looks as if she's been using it to polish bricks.
And does she care? I suspect not, in which case polishing it won't achieve anything.
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It encourages her to see borrowing mine as more tempting.
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Cheap digitiser from eBay and an hour with an iFixit guide?
Cheap wet-apply screen protectors do a good job of filling in scratches. IMHO any attempt to polish out the scratches will end in an unusable phone.
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>> will end in an unusable phone.
Because I'll make more than I fix?
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I have zilch idea what a fone screen is made of, but I've had a lot of success taking some quite bad scratches out of the caravan windows. I used 1500 grade wet & dry paper with proper soap followed by T Cut.
I think the windows are acrylic.
Ted
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Is it glass or plastic? You need to know that before you start.
A screen protector might minimise the appearance of the scratches as well as preventing more.
Google 'replacement screen' for the relevant model. Some are supplied with LCD, others have to be separated. I replaced the screen on my iphone for £20 but it was fiddly work and took hours, using a jeweller's loupe.
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I don't think I'd try to polish out scratches from a phone screen made of toughened glass. I can imagine you'll make a right mess - not going to try this myself.
You don't say what phone but likely to use Corning Gorilla Glass of some sort. Some tougher than others.
www.corninggorillaglass.com
Of course the like of Samsung or Apple or whoever aren't likely to state what sort of glass they used.
I suppose it depends on whether the phone is usable or not. If it isn't then less to lose if you give it a try. But beware if it has an oleophobic coating (probably does).
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Daddy will find he's buying a new smartphone before January if he tries this approach - surely!? Jeweller's rouge in the charging point, the buttons etc.
Next time make sure she uses a screen protector. And as somebody else said, you may find a new screen protector makes the current screen more pleasant.
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>> She's not having a new one, and I'm not spending any money on it since
>> her Birthday is January and the problem will be resolved then.
Tell her to take more care of it or she'll be getting one of these:
www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2488362/Worlds-cheapest-phone-goes-sale-Asda-launches-5-Alcatel-1010-mobile.html
:)
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That's ridiculous. Five whole pounds for a phone?
We've been with Virgin for years for our personal phones (that we almost never use but appreciate when we do), on pay as you go, and I've never had to pay more than the postage for a replacement basic Nokia every so often.
In fact I have in front of me just one such (a Nokia 1661) from the last time they "upgraded" me, still in its box unopened, ready for when I need it. It's been there about three years so far as the existing one just keeps chugging along, although it's true it does need a recharge once every ten days or so.
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Meldrew nice suggestion apart from:
1. This might not be an iPhone
2. No FM2R is in South America - Brazil I think.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 6 Nov 13 at 14:18
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I am sure No FM2R is more than capable of googling smartphone repairs for Brazil or anywhere for that matter. He's a smart guy you know. But he said he didn't want to spend money on the phone because his daughter will get a new one in the new year for her birthday and asked about polishing out the marks.
Most of us on here think it is a bad idea I think. If he'd wanted to replace the screen he'd have asked for opinions if he needed to... don't think he does need our input on that though. :-)
For anyone else reading this though - can you vouch for the company you list from the Yell website? Personal experience? I bet they can't replace the screen cost effectively on say an HTC One.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 6 Nov 13 at 15:45
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I appreciate the thoughts and suggestions.
At the moment I'm in Chile, rather than Brasil. Although even if I were in Sao Paulo, Pitzi require you to register your new phone when you join, not contact them with an already stuffed one. Equally I wouldn't trust them for either their service or reliability.
However, I don't want to replace the screen, the phone isn't worth it. If it was it wouldn't be about to be replaced. I don;t want to spend any particular money on it.
I did think that idly sitting in front of the television rubbing some teeth whitener into it was the sort of level I was prepared to go to, but people are putting me off that a bit.
I think I'll try the screen protector, although I have had zero success with those the 3 or 4 times I've previously tried to use them and normally end up getting annoyed.
So I think I'll try the screen protector with little optimism but its not much investment either. I've also purchased some teeth whitener and I'm going to try rubbing that into an old phone screen of my own to try and judge whether or not i should have a go at hers.
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Autosol metal polish might work, T cut near as dammit the same.
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>>I think I'll try the screen protector, although I have had zero success with those
Been there. Wasted a few then gave up until I got the screen badly scratched.
I've just about got the hang of it now. Make sure the screen is really clean. Read and follow the instructions. If a 'scraper' isn't supplied, have a credit card handy to push the air out to avoid bubbles.
I've only put the dry kind on - until I saw the reference to "wet" I thought that was the only sort there was. The ones I've used have a protection film either side, numbered 1 and 2. 1 is removed, then that side stuck to the screen, then 2 is removed when it has been firmly attached. The last one I did had the numbers stuck on the wrong sides which had me baffled for a while.
It's still annoying, even though my results have got better.
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Manatee were you describing the wet or the dry ones?
How might I spot the difference? (other than wet or dry on the packet!).
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Just (reluctantly) got myself a new smart phone - Sony Xperia SP since you ask. Didn't want to go the full Xperia Z1 as it's just too big, and would have cost way more then the "free" on contract SP.
I've had it a week and just noticed the first little scratch on the screen. Bah. Years of abusing my Nokia N8 and it never showed a single mark on the screen. Maybe I need a screen protector for this one.
This new thing is flimsier than my old N8 and a step backwards in some of the functionality that I had taken for granted - 12MP camera (this one is 8MP), DAB radio, HDMI out (I've got an MHL micro-USB adaptor for the Sony which does work, so I can now view pictures/video on my non-smart HDTV, but it needs a power input so is a less elegant solution than the N8's simple HDMI outlet). Overall I'm disappointed, but apparently I have to "move with the times". Grumble. The wife (part magpie, evidently) likes it though coz it's got pretty flashing multi coloured LEDs at the bottom - which I think are naff and way too "look-at-me".
OK, so Android is way ahead of Symbian, but that's scant consolation to me. I replaced the N8 because the battery had died (I installed a replacement but it wouldn't keep charge anything like the original had done) and the operating system had become slow, laggy and awkward, especially when using it as a, erm, phone.
Wish I could have found a brand new unused N8 - well, there was one on eBay but the seller wanted £400. They are (were) THAT good.
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>> I've had it a week and just noticed the first little scratch on the screen.
You'll find cheaper phones use cheaper glass for the screens. I don't suppose scratch resistant glass like Gorilla Glass is cheap. You read about tests of putting a phone in a bag with keys and the screen does not get scratched. I'm not going to try that though!
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I had a brainwave, I thought....
I figured that anything which would polish a CD nice and shiny would do the same to a phone screen. Equally anything which would bugger up a CD would bugger up a phone screen.
Toothpaste - made the CD work, but looked so misty that I cannot imagine it would be easy to see through the screen.
Brasso - totally trashed the CD so I doubt the phone would survive better.
Teeth Whitener, made no difference one way or the other.
Teeth Whitener and electric tool. Carved up the CD in 10 seconds flat.
Screen Protectors - wasted 3 of the little sods before I managed to apply one correctly. It didn't seem to make much difference one way or the other.
So, Father Christmas is bringing an SIII tomorrow. I shall then reclaim the existing phone and go for it, probably with toothpaste.
It would seem that the most relevant comment was made by Dave....
"And does she care? I suspect not, in which case polishing it won't achieve anything."
The obession appears to be mine alone.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 25 Dec 13 at 00:54
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good idea, but I would run the experiment through the "iPhone screen is Glass and CD is plastic" differentiator.
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True, hence why I thought anything which worked on the CD would work on the phone with a greater safety margin.
Watch this space - boxing day, her old phone, my hangover and a tube of toothpaste.
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>So, Father Christmas is bringing an SIII tomorrow.
I still have an S3.
Get one of these:
tinyurl.com/k8calev
It's a single piece design that replaces the rear cover and has a hinged flap to protect the screen. Works well and only increases the thickness by about 1mm.
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Good recommendation, thanks. I will try.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Tue 24 Dec 13 at 18:21
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I've just applied a (cut-down iPhone) screen protector to the LCD display of a camera which was a bit scratched. It now looks as good as new and the scratches are no longer visible.
Did you do anything?
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Smart Phone Screen. - Zero
