Exterior Plastic Care

P

pico

New member
I just bought a 2005 Chevy Pickup in January. It has a lot of black exterior plastic. ( Side view mirrors, bumper covers, door handles, etc ). I have been using 303 on it until if rained today and all the 303 ran onto my paint and now my plastic is splotchy.



What do you guys use on plastic like this?
 
I use Stoners Trim Shine usually. It seems to work fairly well for me. Make sure to buff after a while, to get any excess off.
 
I really like 1Z Tefenphelger ( spelled something like that).

It slightly cleans and protects and lasts several rains and washes. Brings back that clean factory look with no gloss.
 
If it is a glossy plastic then wax it. You can also use a product like Plexus or Novus plastic polish.



I use a product from Hi-Temp called Paint Perfection Glaze and KLasse AIO works well also.



If it is a textured plastic then just keep it clean and free of wax and it will look its best in that state.



Anthony
 
Intercooled said:
I really like 1Z Tefenphelger ( spelled something like that).

It slightly cleans and protects and lasts several rains and washes. Brings back that clean factory look with no gloss.
Click to expand...



Yes, that's my favorite! 1Z TIEFENPFLEGER.
 
For an OTC product, I used Mothers Back to Black. It worked good for me on my wife's 2002 Nissan Xterra. The Xterra hadn't been detailed in a very long time, and the bumpers and plastic trim were very faded.



I applied it liberally to the plastic surfaces and it lasted about 3 weeks (and a lot of rain). After 3 weeks, I reapplied. The second application only took a few minutes since the trim was still in much better shape then when I first detailed the auto.



On the smooth plastic trim (front grill of the Xterra), it was useless. It didn't soak into the plastic and change the color.



Anthony - will waxing the front grill (smooth very hard plastic) of the Xterra change the color back to its original color (or close)? It seems to have spots on the plastic that are darker like some type of oil dropped on it. I have had no success cleaning these spots off.
 
If it is a smooth (non-textured) plastic then you can try something like Klasse AIO, Menzerna FPII..... Waxing alone may not bring back the color as you will most likely need the cleaning properties of a polish to bring back color. The spots you speak of, if oil drops, will most likely not be removed with just polishing. You may need to re-color it.



Valugard and Top of the Line both have some very nice systems for redying these types of materials, in fact the cleaning step alone can do miracles! You may want to try those options out also.



Anthony
 
Pico- I too got tired of dressing making a mess in the rain. Here's another vote for AIO. I also top it with the KSG (using the w-o-w-o method). I do this on all the exterior plastic on our vehicles except the Jag and it works fine. It does, however, work best when you're starting with a new vehicle, as you are. Oh, and on the Jag I just use AIO topped with Souveran.
 
Cool, thanks for all the responses.



I will use the AIO topped with SG ( because that is what i have for now ). Thats what I do for my paint so why not on my plastic too, :).
 
My favourite is Clearkote vanilla moose to restore back to original colour. Followed with a quality plastic, vinyl and rubber cleaner such as Autoglym 07B or 1Z's own and wolfgang black diamond to enrich the color even more and some optimum protectant plus over the top of that

So far it has lasted for a few months, I mask the top exterior trim of my car before each wash as the material really reacts to water.

I've used KSG on rubbers and plastic trim before with good success

Clearkote chocolate moose will work if you run out of vanilla and is good after restoration with vanilla
 
Haven't really tried the others but I like Mothers back to black, I have a 91 gti and the panels were light grey, after mothers was applied it brought it back to factory, didn't have to reapply after next wash.
 
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