Does the Oleophobic coating work well with scratches?

[dlalonde]

Oleophobic coating scratches

There's a lot of threads about Oleophobic Coating but I've yet to see one about how to remove minor scratches on this Oleophobic coating.

See, one of my keys slipped on my Lumia 640 screen this morning, with no pressure at all. So, at a certain angle and light, you can see a scratch which is why I think it's the oleophobic coating that's scratched and not the gorilla glass 3 itself.

So I've been looking for a definitive solution for get this scratch out. Does that even exist?

Oh and I know I should get a screen protector... I've only had the phone 4 day and just haven't had the time to get to the store. I didn't think it would be scratched so quick after having an S4 for five months and being less cautious and having no scratches. But anyway, once someone is on the floor after falling down the stairs, it's no longer the time to tell them to beware of the staircase!

Thanks

 

[rhapdog]

I'd be more worried about you than the phone after a tumble down a staircase. Phones can be replaced.

I've never read an article or seen a how-to on fixing a scratch on oleophobic coating.

With Gorilla Glass 3, it is unlikely, but not impossible for a key to scratch it. It all depends on angle, force, impact speed, etc. However, I'm with you on thinking it could very well be the coating.

The best way I can think of to repair the coating itself is to remove it, and re-apply a fresh coat.

How do you do that? Well, there are video tutorials on how to apply it, but none on how to remove it. A small bottle that should give you 3 or 4 coatings costs about $25, so it's not the most inexpensive investment, but I've learned it works well on my eyeglasses as well, which are a pain to keep clean without a good coating. Problem is, I have to coat both sides of the glasses.

I do know that there are warnings about not using liquids, especially alcohol, on oleophobic coating, as it can damage or remove it. Alcohol will not remove it in one swipe, but it will speed the natural deterioration of the coating. You may actually be able to use some alcohol to "polish" out the scratch, then reapply the coating. Even if you don't get the scratch completely out with the polishing, adding a new coating should "fill in the gap" as you add a new layer of coating.

Also, when you apply a new Tempered Glass protector, the glue should also "fill in the gap" if the scratch is only part of the coating. I applied one to a phone with a minor scratch, and the scratch seemed to disappear. At least I couldn't find it again after that. However, the scratch reappeared when the tempered glass was removed due to a crack in the protector. Yeah, it protected the phone's screen from a drop onto concrete. Nice.

Let us know how it goes, whatever you decide. I'd do some further searches before attempting anything though. I'm certainly not an expert on this matter. I'm just sharing what little I've learned.

 

[dlalonde]

I'm going to start with the alcool actually. The oleophobic coating doesn't work all that well on the 640 anyway. I'll try to find a bottle of oleophobic coating to put a new one after but in Canada I have never seen any. User Allen Brandt suggested Liquid-Armor by Dynaflo but they seem to be out of stock right now on amazon.

 

[rhapdog]

Go to the Amazon site and just do a search for Oleophobic Coating, and you'll notice the top several items are all kits that allow you to apply your own, and they are in stock.

There are a lot of solutions out there for this. Hope it helps.

 

[dlalonde]

Re: Oleophobic coating scratches

I bought a 6-Pack of Clear HD XtremeGuard HI-DEF Screen Protector Skins. That'll hide the existing scratch and keep new ones from happening.

I would have preferred the liquid thing but on amazon.ca there are none.

 

[ArtificiallyYours]

Oleophobic coatings are rather very very fine materials, unfortunately as science would have it, the material will form micro abrasions but the countering factor is that most of the time (I'd say around 80%), scratches aren't severe or even tangible to the hand.