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Scratches in stainless steel elevator door

I have a 20 year old elevator with stainless steel doors. The Doors have a brushed finish with the grain going from top to bottom. Someone has used a green scotchbrite pad and rubbed the door across the grain. What is a good method to remove these light scratches and put the grain back in the door? Should I use a sandpaper? What kind and what grit?

Mike Young
- Shreveport, Louisiana
2003

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2006

You might have faster results with sandpaper. However, and specially for this kind of finish, it will be very hard to obtain the homogenous and smooth surface that the steel has. In my opinion, and depending on the scratches (deepness, size, etc...) you have the following option;
1) Paint the door. Use a coat of primer first.
2) use a smoother polishing felt with a drill to smooth-out the scratches
3) coat the visible parts (panels of the door, etc...) with another piece of Stainless steel.

Alper Basaran
- Ankara, Turkey

We do work for several property managers in town and one has asked us to refinish some stainless steel elevator doors and I am trying to find the best process to use.

Kent Aderholt
facilities maintenance - Birmingham
January 16, 2011

Ed. note: See letter 13369. Finishing.com also has a FAQ on "Repairing scratches in stainless steel refrigerator doors" which may be helpful.

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Scratches in Stainless elevator skins is quite easy to remove using Scratch-B-Gone. If fact our process was originally invented to restore scratch vandalism and on a localized spot. SBG will do deep cut as well as chemical stains, rust and all else. We are now sold special order through Grainger supply. Simple ask you rep to source our Large Area Restoration Kit (LARK). Thanks

Barry Feinman
BarrysRestoreItAll

Carlsbad, California

April 2, 2011