Suggestions for Cleaning/Restoring Badly Faded Black Trim & Cladding

[Lonnie]

Once again I am reaching out to my fellow Autopians for suggestions on cleaning and restoring badly faded black trim and cladding.
This seems to be a common problem on older vehicles, especially those parked 24/7 outdoors. We`ve all seen them, like Chevy Avalanche trucks ,Ford Escapes, or Honda Elements, with their acres and acres of plastic cladding that has turned a somewhat chalky grey or almost white in color. My own application is the rear bumper top protective trim by the bottom of the rear hatch that gets "baked" by the sun, since it sits perpendicular to it on a 2006 Ford Freestyle.

My go-to product for black trim has been (and is) Meg`s consumer line Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer. My cleaning method is to take Meg`s Detailer Line D101 All-Purpose Cleaner on a microfiber and wipe/scrub the vinyl/plastic trim thoroughly, water rinse, dry, and then apply UBPR. It is OK, but the fading and chalky grey reappears in MAYBE 3 weeks. In an attempt to try something "different", I have tried Optimum Polymer Technology`s Opti-Bond Tire Gel. I do like it for tires, as it has that nice matte finish, but I see in the product`s label description it can be used on vinyl and trim. It did turn it black again, but without the high gloss UBPR imparts on trim. It`s been on for two weeks and it looks great, but it has sat in the garage for most of that time and driven in one rainstorm.

My REAL reason was I was going to buy Armor-All`s Outlast Trim and Plastic Restorer as a "replacement" for Meg`s Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer because I can get it over-the-counter at most any auto parts store or even Walmart, but before I did that, I thought I would ask my fellow Autopians what they do for badly faded trim, hence this thread.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions!

[Accumulator]

Lonnie- I bet you`ll get a LOT of good suggestions!

No Tire Slime or ERV Dressings for me; I use a Trim Sealant, or a trim-friendly LSP.

I prep with Griot`s Rubber Prep and then seal with Ultima Tire & Trim Guard +.

That GG Rubber Prep has been a [freakin`] miracle product for me.

Worked fine on my faded-to-gray stuff, on neglected vehicles that many would`ve written off, and the UTTG+ lasts a long time and doesn`t ever run/etc. in the rain or transfer to my wash media.

But that approach isn`t a "Restoration" system/product, and there are apparently a scad of good, effective ones on the market these days.

[MattPersman]

Solution finish and their own cleaner

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/trim...l#.W1ivihYpCEc


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[Accumulator]

MattPersman- What do they mean when they say "The Solution Finish can stain your hands"? Is it a dye, or otherwise pigmented?

[mobiledynamics]

Solutions Finish is really nice stuff ! Don`t top it. In my testing, when I coated ontop of the SF, the deep black was more like mild black post coating it.

[mobiledynamics]

MattPersman- What do they mean when they say "The Solution Finish can stain your hands"? Is it a dye, or otherwise pigmented?

Last time I used it was 12 months ago , more or less. My memory ain`t that good anymore. LOL. I do recall the product is dye`ish

[Accumulator]

Last time I used it was 12 months ago , more or less. My memory ain`t that good anymore. LOL. I do recall the product is dye`ish

Heh heh.. OK And yeah, I kinda figured it was some kind of Dye from the description. Not that *that* is necessarily a bad thing, depending.

[Lonnie]

The "Dye thing" isn`t all bad. IIRC, Turtle Wax had a trim protectant in the `90`s that was a kind of grey, but it acted like a dye. That was one of the few Turtle Wax products I really liked.
AND who can forget that Hi-Temp Akrya had (past tense) a trim product with a back dye in it,

[mobiledynamics]

Forgive me, I`m not even looking up pricing on the SF. I recall thinking I should have went with the larger bottle - costco mentality....I got the small one. Anyhow, a LITTE goes a loooong way. And this was in full sun --- aka, when I do trim, I actually try to get it nice and heatsoaked in the sun, then pull it into the garage. In my mind, I`m opening up pores..

[TroyScherer]

I have done multiple applications of Solution Finish to restore and darken trim. And then after a week or so of letting it "cure" I usually top is with something like CarPro DLUX.

MattPersman- What do they mean when they say "The Solution Finish can stain your hands"? Is it a dye, or otherwise pigmented?

I listened to a podcast with Chris West and he said that it was milled carbon in a solution. So not really a dye or pigment per say but yet it will "stain your hands" like working with a wood stain.

[mobiledynamics]

Troy - re: my last post . With Dlux ontop of SF, it seemed to dial back the finish by 2 shades of deepness one I coated it. Ehhhh, I know there are many different types of rubber/plastics though

[screeby]

How about McKee`s Plastic Trim Restorer? I used it for the first time this last weekend. It has lost some darkness but it was almost too dark if that makes sense? I am happy with it right now a whole 4 days in but it has had one rain storm.

Time will tell but right now I am a fan.

KM

[Billy Jack]

After reading about Solution Finish for years, I finally bought a bottle a few months ago, intending to restore the wiper cowl panel on my daughter`s Honda. I hadn`t got to it yet, since the car never seems to sit long enough on weekends for me to get to it, but I tried a new application last week.
I`m prepping my "survivor" `87 El Camino for a judged show and there`s a black coated stainless steel panel at the base of the windshield where the wipers rest when parked. 30 years old, it`s now faded to gray and no amount of polish or wax darkens it up. I tried some SF and even though it`s metal rather than plastic or rubber, it looks great. It`s a nice deep black, consistent in color with a satin sheen that doesn`t look like a repaint. I haven`t topped it with anything yet, so we`ll see about the longevity without any added protection.
Very happy so far.

Bill

[Accumulator]

Billy Jack- Ah, good thinking! I do the same with some black metal bits on the Tahoe that are in really *REALLY* bad shape, though I use Autoglym Bumper Care.

[RaskyR1]

I used SF on the old Porsche 911 vent and it turned out great. Not sure how it`s held up since then but my client was very happy.