Interion trim plastic polish for manual polishing

G

Gary Wells

New member
Hi. I`ve been a member for a long time, but haven`t been around recently. I`m looking for any recommendations for a plastic polish for interior trim plastic pieces that can be used manually. No power tools. I have tried the GM swirl remover, Brasso, Wenol Blue, & Wright`s Silver Cream, but all leave minute swirl marks. Appreciate any info. I have used Brasso & Wenol Blue to polish by hand (finger) crystals on watches with great success. But leaves swirls on my 09 Cad CTS-V`s interior.
 
Gary Wells- Welcome to (active posting at) Autopia!

Different interior surfaces/plastics are just...well, different. So it`s virtually impossible to make an across-the-board recommendation. But the stuff you mentioned (well, dunno about the GM Swirl Remover, not sure who makes it) is all quite abrasive and far harsher than anything I`d try.

The Auto Plastics are, IME, all quite fragile, so you need to use very gentle abrasives. Heh heh, about the opposite end of the spectrum from the crystals on any of my watches!

I`m not up to date on the latest polishes, and I no longer do such surfaces as a general rule (lest I end up going too far), but I`d reach for something that I`d use on *exterior* black plastics, something like 3D Polish.

If the abrasives are diminishing, you need a product that`s not too harsh at first and that breaks down somewhat quickly and becomes *very* gentle as it`s worked. If the abrasives are NONdiminishing, you need something that`s gentle enough period (and IME it won`t be M205 as it mars such surfaces up too).

Sorry, not sure what to recommend, but maybe someone will offer suggestions. Doing this work can take a long time IME, but then I use very mild stuff that works incrementally.
 
Accumulator:
Many thanks for the response & suggestions. All of the products that I mentioned that I have tried do improve the swirls to a certain extent but not totally under a 300 lumen light. I do have some Ultra Soft Wenol Blue coming next week so I will see how that does. Actually the standard Wenol Blue works the best on both of my Omega watches. Many thanks again.
 
Flitz works very well for most plastics including lens etc and is very mild
For clear plastics that are actually scratched, the novus 123 system is my go to.
M
 
Welcome to Autopia Forums, Gary !

What exactly are you working on in this Interior? Its plastic, but is it the chrome plastic, colored black plastic, wood grain plastic ?
Is it across the front of the Dashboard, around the console, a long strip of it along each door, etc., ?
On as many places as possible, you would want to make straight back and forth motions when using anything, so as to not make/add swirls that show up later..

The only product I ever use to make those pieces better (except the dashboard gauge plastic faces - try to not touch them very much), has always been Zaino All-In One - Cleaner Polish Protectant..
It`s not too cheap and one bottle if this is all you use it for will last forever...
It is a very mild abrasive, emulsifying cleaner, that is good at clearing up some scratches, and it leaves a little zaino sealant on the surface after..
I only use a very, very, soft, short nap microfiber on Interior pieces that look like they could use some help, and I rub it in straight lines, let it dry and carefully wipe it off..
Dan F
 
GM stuff was made by Adams last I knew but I think they have stopped that relationship.

To answer your question I would start with the finest polish I could find. Maybe even the jeweling wax from McKees? There is a polish abrasive chart on the forum somewhere that will help you pick a really light polish
 
Mooser- Ah, my late Father`s fave- Flitz :D I must still have four or five tubes of it around here somewhere!

Still mighty abrasive IME, but maybe I`m used to fragile surfaces.

Some Plastic Polishes are quite mild, just a tad abrasive. Plexus comes to mind but it`s been so long since I used it I can`t recall any details (oops, no pun intended). GG sells one, but it`s so gentle that I`d say it`s more of a cleaner.

I`ll just repeat my "take it easy and don`t insist on perfection" advice...there`s a reason why I quit trying to keep ours Autopian ;)

Stokdgs- Remember how I`m always saying I like ZAIO? And how I say it`s too gentle for any abrading? Well, I do like it and consider it gentle...but not for plastics, way too abrasive for the ones I`ve tried it on. Nope, never tried it on interior finishes, but IME they`re often very similar to the exterior plastic pieces so that`s another product I`d be mighty careful with. Heh heh, I merely *assumed* it`d be OK on exterior plastics that I`ve frequently used abrasive polishes on...but NO! Big mistake. Huge hassle. Never again. Still love the stuff on paint though.
 
Many thanks , gentlemen, for all of the great info & suggestions. The GM stuff, Swirl remover polish, GM 1#12377965, no longer available, I believe, was formulated by Meguiar`s for GM but was made in Canada. It is also not very easy to use as it almost dries the minute it hits the the rag or the surface, and does not lend itself to application very well. The label states "made in Canada" so I assume it was actually made by GM.
A few years later there were some polishes made by Adams but carried the Cadillac label: Quick Gloss & Ultra Gloss. These carried the label "WWW cadillacstore.com"

Stockdgs: Typical GM interior pieces made of what appears to by plastic and is black or black/grey replica carbon fiber appearance. Can`t tell if it carries a protective coating or is just high gloss plastic.
 
OK, I think that I have found something that seems to respond to hand polishing on interior plastics: Adam`s "Revive Hand Polish", Product Code # 8417400011. If anybody has any, could you please try it on a piece of plastic trim in the interior and let me know your opinion. Looks like it might work on some metals, too. Seems to do great on bare aluminum. This is definitely less aggressive than anything else that I have tried. Other opinions definitely welcome.
 
Gary Wells said:
OK, I think that I have found something that seems to respond to hand polishing on interior plastics: Adam`s "Revive Hand Polish", Product Code # 8417400011. If anybody has any, could you please try it on a piece of plastic trim in the interior and let me know your opinion. Looks like it might work on some metals, too. Seems to do great on bare aluminum. This is definitely less aggressive than anything else that I have tried. Other opinions definitely welcome.
Click to expand...
This is a chemical polish vs. an abrasive polish, and is what I would have recommended. It is great as a paint cleanser, but also good for when you need something a little stronger than a thin cleaner. I have used it to remove rubber marks from a `clay` sponge/mitt.
I will try to give a try this evening.
 
Has anyone tried the Meg`s Professional (Mirror Glaze) Plastic Twins #17 Cleaner and #10 Polish? I also see they make a #18 Clear Plastic Detailer Spray.

Along these lines they Meg`s makes an over-the-counter consumer version Plasti-X that may work.

I prefer Plexus Plastic Cleaner Aerosol Spray for minor cleaning, but if it hand correction on plastic lens, I reach for the Meg`s MG Plastic Twins on a very soft suede microfiber. The twins work very well for the faux-wood plastic trim in dashes and interior door panels. I have also used the twins on clear plastic windows in convertible tops that was hazed and it worked OK for doing it by hand. I had to hold a piece of flat wood behind the plastic window to provide a hard surface to press against so as not to rip the plastic.
 
Lonnie said:
Has anyone tried the Meg`s Professional (Mirror Glaze) Plastic Twins #17 Cleaner and #10 Polish?
Click to expand...

Not recently, but they didn`t make a positive impression on me when I tried them back in the day.

You like `em, huh?

I`ve tried the Griot`s Plastic Cleaner and their Polish, those weren`t All That for me either, but maybe I had unrealistic expectations.
 
I got the car out this AM and was able to position it so I could check out the plastic correction I did with the Adam`s hand polish and it looked great. I could not see 1 halo or swirl in the area where I rubbed out. So, at least for now, I am going to stick with this stuff. Also seems to work great for minor metal polishing such as bare aluminum. Many thanks for everybody`s help & advice.
 
Gary Wells- Glad it worked so well, and thanks for posting back about it. That`s a product that I hadn`t payed attention to.
 
Many thanks for everybody`s input. I am very happy with Adam`s "Revive Hand Polish" as I can use it for at least 2 different process applications.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top