Wax on but not Wax off Help please.

Fishing

Member
Hello all, I am in a sort of perfecting cream situation. I have plastic trim, a fender flare, picture attached. I got some Griots Perfection Cream on it and can`t seem to be able to get it off. I have tried: Meguiars car wash, Blackfire Wax Remover, Meguiars Heavy Degreaser, Blackfire Citrus Pad cleaner and Simple Green. Does anyone have any suggestions as too something that would work that I haven`t tried yet ? Thank you for your time and help.
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@heloguy and @Older thank you Both for the suggestions I am going to look at them today. I appreciate the help.
 
Fishing:
I will take the "low road"on this since this is not wax, but a compound that has embedded itself into the plastic trim during the application process, I assume, done with a buffing machine. My admonishment is that you should of taped off the trim BEFORE you started buffing. Despite how "careful" one is with a buffer, this can happen, and if you want to dismiss my surmising as to how this may have happened or question your buffer-handling skills, well, let me know then how this actually happened.

Whether to take the time to tape off trim (and it is time-consuming) or not has been the conundrum and a contestable debate for correcting with a buffer. Some well-seasoned detailer will tell you its not a big issue to remove compound or polish from such trim because there are car-care products that do this effectively AND by their careful and judicious control of the buffing machine will not touch such trim pieces, and cause a scuff or burn mark on them. I take the safe route and tape off trim, especially stainless steel, in most cases, as accidents happen and its just too easy to "slip up". I know this admonition is a little like "closing the barn door after animals get out", but it also is a live-and-learn detailing experience lesson. That said, one of the BIG problems with taping off trim is that the tape adhesive will stick to the vinyl or plastic trim. I have tried cleaning and treating trim with a protectant BEFORE doing this, but then the trim is so slick that tape will not stick to it. Four things I`ve learned about taping off trim:
1) Use quality body-shop painter`s tape (3M Blue Professional), not cheap paper masking tape.
2) Clean the trim with iso-propyl alcohol before apply the tape.
3) Do NOT apply tape in the warm or hot sun; do it indoors or in the outdoors shade when it is cooler
4) Don`t worry about the tape job (mine is pretty lame and most first-graders could do a better job) but longer pieces are easier to remove

So we have two schools of thought: to tape off trim or not to tape off trim.

I agree with those above: using 3M Adhesive Remover is a good product to try and remove this compound from the trim with. The other is Professional-strength Goof-Off (NOT to be confused with GooGone). One thing to keep in mind is NOT to pour the remover of any sorts directly on to the trim and have it weep or creep under the trim. Rather, just soak a rag or microfiber with it and THEN rub on the compound stain spot. The over soaking can get under the trim and loosen the trim`s adhesive. Some vehicle insignia`s or emblems are like that and held on with a sticky-back-like tape, so just be careful. I know, it sounds common sense, but as I have quoted before 1920`s writer and humorist Will Rogers famous saying, "I guess common sense ain`t so common!"
 
@TroyScherer Thank you for the information, I am going to take a look at that.
@Lonnie WOW thank you very much for all of the information, both preventative and treatment, a wealth of knowledge. I have had good luck with other 3M products, I am going to take a look into that one. Thank you very much for all the help.
 
Meguiar`s M39 with a medium bristle brush was designed for exactly this situation.

It`s covered in Obsessed Garage`s tour of Meguiar`s headquarters.

I believe Matt started carrying M39 specifically for It`s ability to perform in this scenario.

Duragloss also carries a "wax eraser" but I have not tried it. I have the M39.
 
@PA DETAILER @danic95 - I did not know that about M93, I am going to learn about using it. Thank you both for the help/information. I ended up using the Mothers Back to Black Heavy Duty Trim Cleaner as a result of its local availability. It worked very good doing 2 applications. I will be keeping an eye out for some of the other products,,,,as an amature you can never have to many products :). Thank you ALL for the great information,,,every little bit of informations makes detailing more enjoyable.
 
Be *very* careful with a Magic Eraser lest it alter the texture of the trim. As long as that doesn`t happen it`s sure worth a try, so it`s not like I`m flaming the suggestion.
 
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