this may be out of reach for some,but it works the best.novus plastic polish is most commonly used,but i use the buffing machine at work to buff out scuffs and scratches on drum wraps.we use it to buff gloss finishes,but it works great for wraps and acrylics too.sometimes even drum heads(and scuffed and scratched cd's and dvd's) i don't know what the rpm is on the machine,but its really fast.i do know its not as fast as a metal buffing machine,which is a higher rpm.
there's 2 wheels: the hard wheel and the soft-or fine wheel.you use the fine wheel only.apply the fine wheel compound and buff the drum(with everything taken off the drum of course) if you don't want to take off the badge,you just got to make sure to buff around it.if you have any cracked or lifting wrap areas around the lug holes,trim them first so the wheel doesn't grab and either damage the wrap or so it doesn't pull the drum down and away from you.if your seam is kifting,or you want to make sure the wheel will not lift the seam,repair the seam or,since the wheel's rotation is towards you,buff the drum with the seam pointing down.as you lift up and down on the drum,the seam won't get caught under the wheel.
start buffing lightly just to get a feel for the wheel(at this point i assume someone would find a friend with a buffing machine)generally,you'll see quick results on lite scuffs.the leavier the damage,the harder you need to buff those areas.
this will generally bring back the shine of the wrap.i just wrapped a snare using old out of print wrap that had no protective covering.it was all scuffed up and dirty.i wrapped the drum first(did not drill for holes) and buffed the wrap with no problems.there was some old tape residue as well.for that i took acutone and LIGHTLY pulled it off with a rag.each peoblem has a seperate required fix,so be caucious.
as for yellowing,i never buffed wrap that has been yellowing.vintage drums (say 60's and back) generally yellows due to the way the material was made then.anything from the 70's and up should be a little easier to buff out yellowing based on the way wrap has been made since then.
if you can't find someone with a full size buffing machine,you can use a smaller buffing wheel that you can mount on your drill press or a bench grinder.in which case the wheels are easyto take on and off.the width of the wheels are alot smaller,but atleast its something.i also heard a guy use a hand held buffing machine(for cars)that's another option.good luck
