Removing gloss from a mouse

[muchidna]

greetings, i recently bought a (usually) ~$65 mouse that was being promoted, however, only the glossy one was on sale

anyway, i was wanting to remove the gloss from it, i've just ordered a variety of wet/dry sandpapers up to 1000 grit and i was planning on just iterating through the grits

i'm hoping for a nice, very smooth matte finish , and possibly painting it afterwards (depending on looks after sanding)

anyway, i was wondering if anyone else has experience or guides on removing gloss, and possibly painting, preferably to last a while

this mouse is a spare, i have a main mouse which is better, so i wouldn't be too devastated if i messed this one up, though i'd rather not


thanks

[Tym]

I can give sanding advice; start with the high grit to rough it up then work down to the low grit and keep going until you get it smooth. Painting generally is to be advised against on a mouse because you are holding it constantly and are going to sweat into it and it will end up pretty skanky.

[muchidna]

mm, that was my concern with painting it, perhaps i could stain it or something depending on how the plastic looks?

[Riddixk51PB]

couple of things.

• i'd start with fine sandpaper.  if it gives you the texture you're looking for, then just stop sanding after sanding with fine sandpaper.  only if the texture doesn't suit you at this point would i try the more coarse sandpaper.
  
• i'd sand in a direction which is side-to-side.  so the sanding lines run perpendicular to your fingers reaching over the mouse.  it goes without saying you'd want to disassemble the mouse so you can work on just the mouse buttons.
  
• if you paint the mouse after you've sanded it, you'll just make it slick again.  especially if you use a gloss paint.  forget the paint and don't go for cosmetic "looks."
  

[damorgue]

I have a mouse which had a coating of matte rubber paint which had begun to wear through in places. I sandblasted it to remove both the rubber grip paint and make the plastic underneath matte. Ask around, and perhaps you can borrow one somewhere. It takes a minute at most, and you are left with a matte finish.