Reviving Old Black Plastic HK Grips - Or Just About Any Other Faded Plastic

Do you have an old HK grip, or any other plastic item, you want to rejuvenate? Or maybe you bought one of the contract grips, washed it and now it’s a dull grey and all of the scratches stand out and you want to make it look better? It’s easier than you might think.

Clean the grip

I recently boought a bunch of the the surplus HK33 “contract grips” that were made by SME Arms and Ordnance manufacturer, Malaysia under license from HK and most of them really needed cleaning – everything from cosmoline to brown masking tape with numbers were on them.

The first thing is to really clean the grip. I use a Vevor 30L ultrasonic cleaner [click here for a review I did on mine] with Simple Green HD and water in it but you can use any warm-to-hot soapy water and something to scrub with to clean it up. Use compressed air to blow it dry real quick before any exposed steel surfaces rust.

These HK33 grips are a mess. Most are beaten up to some extent. Many were covered in cosmoline – that grip on the top that is shiny is coated in it. Some even had old dry masking tape wrapped around the actual hand-grip portion.

For cleaning, I use an ultrasonic cleaner. I have a 30 Liter Vevor and it’s great. Vevor offer all kinds of sizes – if you are interested, click here for a blog post I did about mine. You can calso click here to see the current listings on Amazon.

If you aren’t interested in ultrasonic cleaners, you can also have very good luck with hot soapy water. I used to recommend brake cleaner but that has really lost its cleaning power as various regulations have really reduced its strength.

This is a 30 liter Vevor ultrasonic cleaner filled with Simple Green Pro HD heated to 158F (70C). It gets rid of pretty much everything in 15 minutes including most if not all of the paint in the lettering.

Dealing with scratches and small nicks

Major repairs can be a challenge. Filling them with black epoxy or black super glue creates visible repairs. Black super glue to close a clean crack works surprisingly well. Starbond makes a black super glue that is superb at closing cracks plus bonding clean surfaces together in general – click here to see it at Amazon

For minor scrapes and scratches, the best approach I have found is to use 0000 (sometimes called “quadruple ought” or super fine) steel wool and vigorously rub down surfaces to get rid of scratches and any plastic sticking up from getting nicked. The benefit I have found with it vs. sandpaper is that it doesn’t destroy the surface finish as easily.

This is an actual HK German SEF grip converted for use on an MP5K. I used 0000 steel wool to knock over any sticking out plastic and reduce minor scratches. I find careful use of steel wool helps me improve the surface some without destroying the pebbled finish on the plastic.

Restoring the black color

Black plastic fades as the surface layer loses its oil/moisturizers. The trick to try and replace those lost chemicals and bring the color back.

Black plastic that has been ultrasonically cleaned is greyish and you can see all of the scratches. If you don’t know it’s coming you can have a “what just happened” moment.

The treatment I use is made by Car Guys and is called “Plastic Restorer”. Again, make sure the grip is clean and then rub this stuff in. I use nitrile gloves and work it in. You want a thin film there. I let the stuff sit overnight and buff it off with a shop towel the next day. It does a nice job and will last for sometime. I’m not exactly sure how long – I’ve been using it for almost six months and nothing has faded yet.

On this HK SEF grip, it’s been cleaned and I used steel wool to knock down any rough spots. Next up is applying Car Guys Plastic Restorer.

The actual cream that comes out is an odd blue grey color. I wear nitrile gloves, put the cream in my glove and then apply enough to leave a film.

It does need to have a light film – not super thick but something like this.
It has to sit to work, I try to let it sit overnight if I can. They say at least 10 minutes but I find the longer the better. You then wipe it down and remove any residue on the surface,

This is the same grip. It sat overnight and then I wiped it down the following day.

These are four of the grey ashen grips shows above after following this process.

Summary

I did not know why black colored platics fade with time. Now I do and the Car Guys Plastic Restorer works on more colors than just black. Click here for it on Amazon – there’s a reason there are over 31,000 reviews and a score of 4.4. It’s that good. So, whether it’s plastic on firearms, cars or something else, this stuff might really help you bring the color back.

One perk is that it does seal and provide UV protection after it is applied. I’ve been using it for six months and nothing has faded yet but then again, no finish lasts forever so I would bet that some day I will need to touch things up.

Note: This stuff isn’t for headlights and it doesn’t fix physically damaged plastic when there is a thick crust of oxidation or scratches. It’s meant to bring the color back is all.

I hope this helps you out.

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