Fixing small scratches / nicks on Thinkpad rubber coating - possible?

[dr_st]

I found many threads, videos and tutorials on how to restore / strip and reapply heavily damaged rubber coating such as what is used on T/X series Thinkpads, usually on the lid. Usually these involve spraying, painting or polishing the entire surface of the lid.

However, I wonder - what is the best way to apply local fixes (like a small but deep scratch or paint chips/nicks on corners)? Is there even a good way to do it or will it end up not matching the original coating / looking worse than the scratch (kind of like touch-up paint on cars often does not blend in)?

[Thinkpad4by3]

I mean there is always the brute Force method.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-IBM-Lenovo ... 2674118075?

[dr_st]

Well... that's not much different from the full lid restoration. I really hope that a more localized solution can be found. Getting rid of a whole lid/palmrest, or removing/reapplying the entire coating, because of a tiny nick/scracth seems awfully wasteful, whether in terms of money/garbage production or in terms of time/labor invested.

[RealBlackStuff]

Find an artist and turn the one scratch in a bunch of art-scratches...
Usually a Mr.Clean Eraser and Isopropyl alcohol can work wonders.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Find an artist and turn the one scratch in a bunch of art-scratches...

Usually a Mr.Clean Eraser and Isopropyl alcohol can work wonders.

+1

[Mr. Clean]

The rubber coating on my ThinkPad had gotten so sticky that I decided to completely remove it. I did this using a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and fingernail polish remover which has an acetone base. This stripped the rubber completely off the plastic case underneath and left a nice smooth finish without any tackiness.

[RealBlackStuff]

You should NOT use acetone on any plastic, ever!