Help with glock frame turning white

[wizzegun]

I'm hoping someone can help. My friend has a G19. It seems he was using powder blaster to clean. It actually turned the barrel end of the polymer frame white. I know it's hard to fix discolored plastic but maybe someone has run across this before?

[CHEMICAL]

Um....polymer safe gun scrubber is all he should be using...lol. I would try very light sand paper to restore it. Pictures would help.

[harold63]

Was he trying to remove paint or something. It sounds like, without seeing it, that the particles (if it is even what I am thinking of) have etched into the polymer and has made it to appear to turn white. The polymer is the same color all the way through, so you have to dissolve the particles and be left with a frame that is going to be more porous and harder to clean. He should find out what will clean the powder (in the cleaning instructions) and try that. If it is soda, then hot water will do it after soaking for a while. Anything this side of lacquer thinner will not harm the polymer, but as Chemical says, only use a polymer safe cleaner from here on out to clean it. If he is painting it and messes up the paint job, mineral spirits will take off the fresh paint unless it is an epoxy to which you'll need lacquer thinner. If he lets the paint dry, then he should use a quality paint remover (which also will not hurt the polymer) to remove it, or am I just talking to the stars?

[harold63]

If removing paint wasn't involved, why did he powder blast it?

[wizzegun]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry no pics. He just bought gun cleaning spray and went at it. Luckily it's just the rail end of the frame. I have a vested interest because it used to be mine and it was perfect. It's only slightly discolored white, not snow white, but definately noticeable.

[harold63]

It seems he was using powder blaster to clean.

He just bought gun cleaning spray and went at it.

Which one did he actually use? No way to give a definitive answer without knowing what he used.

[wizzegun]

Winchester powder blaster. He said the label was "iffy" on safe for polymers. Yeah not the brightest bulb.

[CHEMICAL]

Winchester powder blaster. He said the label was "iffy" on safe for polymers. Yeah not the brightest bulb.

I have read that winchester powder blast has had a couple negative effects on others guns as well. One poster suggested using toothpaste for its abrasive properties before trying sand paper. I tend to agree with this since I have used toothpaste in the past to restore a hazy clear cover on the instrument cluster in cars before. It brought them back to clear with a little elbow grease.

[SCBaldr]

If it means a lot to him, he can have that part of the frame re-cerakoted to match original frame color.

[Steve_NEPhila]

How exactly is a "vested" interest in a piece of property that belongs to someone else? You have no responsibility as far as I can tell. The real owner should probably contact the manufacturer if it is a real problem.