Polishing Wood Trim in a Lexus?
- Thread starter cspoly
- Start date
imported_memnuts
New member
On the wood trim in our LS400 I just use damp ( water ) soft cotton rag or MF and polish with a very soft cotton rag or MF. This wood tirm is thickly varnished so the care of this material is the only thing needed. By the way my wood trim is 8 years old a looking great. If you have kids or pets that may get this trim dirty :nixweiss
imported_BretFraz
New member
For the wood trim on my Saab I use Plexus. Does a great job of polishing and protecting the finish.
imported_memnuts
New member
ShowroomLincoln said:
See that is why we are here. ShowroomLincoln great idea about using a sealant!:bounce
That usage has never crossed my mind. Shine, protection, UV shielding and non-abrasive. I guess I have a project this weekend with the wood trim in the LS. :xyxthumbs :bow
chevyguy28
New member
You can pretty much use Klasse or Zaino on any non-porous (relative term) surface. Some ideas:
- sunglasses
- computer screens
- countertops
- tiles
- marble, granite (the older stones) AIO works for these, never sealed them myself
- wheels, windows, headlights
- stainless steel
- sunglasses
- computer screens
- countertops
- tiles
- marble, granite (the older stones) AIO works for these, never sealed them myself
- wheels, windows, headlights
- stainless steel
imported_bigltc
New member
For the Klasse, do you guys mean the AIO, not the SG?
C. Charles Hahn
CCH Auto Appearance, LLC
the one place on a car where I would actually recommend using lemon pledge!! 
or, I have some specific furniture polish by a company called weiman. I got it at the local supermarket in the housewares dept. Works great, smells even better.
or, I have some specific furniture polish by a company called weiman. I got it at the local supermarket in the housewares dept. Works great, smells even better.
imported_Aurora40
New member
I use wood products on my wood trim... 
Doesn't AIO have some light polishes in it? I can't imagine that wood varnish and clearcoat paint have a lot in common, and I'm sure the oils they need are different. Wood products that are made for varnished wood (also called finished wood) work great. Products with beeswax are usually the best. I currently use Howard's Feed-N-Wax that I got at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It does a great job on our tables as well as on my car's interior. The only drawback is it can get on the surrounding trim a little. It doesn't stain, though, and wipes right off.
Doesn't AIO have some light polishes in it? I can't imagine that wood varnish and clearcoat paint have a lot in common, and I'm sure the oils they need are different. Wood products that are made for varnished wood (also called finished wood) work great. Products with beeswax are usually the best. I currently use Howard's Feed-N-Wax that I got at Bed, Bath & Beyond. It does a great job on our tables as well as on my car's interior. The only drawback is it can get on the surrounding trim a little. It doesn't stain, though, and wipes right off.KR CoolShine
New member
Aurora40 said:
Actually, the wood trim in a luxury car is a wood veneer covered with a urethane that is *very* similar to clearcoat. So, treat it the same! You can polish out fine scratches and swirls just like you do your clear and seal it the same way also.
FWIW, I use a couple of coats of carnauba wax on mine. Right now, I am using up some Zymol Detail wax that really looks nice.
imported_Aurora40
New member
ShowroomLincoln said:Aurora40
The "wood" in the majority of the cars made today is not real wood, and thus it does not need feeding oils. A good quality sealant will give plenty of protection to the trim with no problems. It's very much like the myth that paint needs to be fed, total bull.
Well, I think what he is asking about is real wood, not fake. I know for a fact the wood in my car is real. And why would you think that products made specifically for wood wouldn't be better? I mean, if this were a woodtopia board and someone asked how to care for their paint, would we all say "Use beeswax because it's just a protectant. All that about paint products feeding the paint is nonsense". I mean, maybe wood products are similar to paint products and maybe not. However, they are definitely made to work on wood. I doubt too many autopians are like "well, I don't want to spend another $5 and have yet another product in my garage..."
Even real wood placed in modern cars is "finished", usually with a very hard urethane coating in multiple coats, no oils pass through the coating to the wood anyway. They just lay on the surface, kind of like "feeding oils" for paint......they don't pass through the clear, they just lay on top of it. Which, IMO, defeats the purpose of using a product for wood with gobs of oils in it.
imported_Aurora40
New member
ShowroomLincoln said:
Ok, even if they don't need the oils, there are wood products that are made for finished wood (which I believe I mentioned in my first post). They don't all have gobs of oils in them. Plus, if they don't go in, who cares? At least the protectant layer is made to go on varnish. There are plenty of furniture pieces that are finished in the same way, and I bet most companies that make them would recommend a wood product to protect them...
If you want to use AIO or Zaino on your wood, go ahead. But don't try to tell me that it is the only product worth using.
As an aside, if you don't think varnished wood or automotive paint can absorb oils, then why do you think neglected paint gets brighter from pure polishes? Or neglected wood (even varnished wood) gets darker from wood oils? If the paint were only getting brighter from oxidation and such being stripped, then only a cleaner should brighten it, and a polish afterwards should have no effect. There are plenty of automotive leathers that are finished with sealers. You can usually spill liquids on them and they won't even soak in. Yet if you rub Lexol on there for just a second, you can feel the leather getting softer. Why is that? There isn't a material in the world that is impervious...
Feeding oils DO NOT absorb into paint. The "brightness" you are seeing is the oils on the surface of the clear. It's just makeup, see the surface oils fill small voids in the clear giving it a more smooth glass like appearance. The oils give it the wet appearance, nothing is actually absorbed into the basecoat. Same story with finished wood getting darker with oils, just makeup on the surface.
Oh, and the Lexol, that's not the leather it's softening. It's the coating, that's why repeated applications of leather conditioner on coated leather will destroy the coating over time
Oh, and the Lexol, that's not the leather it's softening. It's the coating, that's why repeated applications of leather conditioner on coated leather will destroy the coating over time
BoxsterCharlie
New member
I'll chime in here because one of my other hobbies is woodworking...
If you want to be real anal about it, NEVER use water as a wood cleaner. It will cloud certain finishes if exposed for too long--especially the urethane which I expect is used on these delicate trim veneer pieces. (Want an example--check out the milky rings left by cold, wet glasses left on fine table for too long). Also consider that a veneer may only be 1/64 of an inch thick!
Do use beeswax products--they work fine and are the safest option. Avoid Lemon Pledge--it is the wood world equivalent of Turtle Wax. Why? Because it smears and is not very compatible with finishes.
My favorite polish is orange oil. Looks great and smells good!
Or just wipe that water up real quick and don't fuss about it. This is just a little trim, not a museum-quality antique here!
-Charlie
If you want to be real anal about it, NEVER use water as a wood cleaner. It will cloud certain finishes if exposed for too long--especially the urethane which I expect is used on these delicate trim veneer pieces. (Want an example--check out the milky rings left by cold, wet glasses left on fine table for too long). Also consider that a veneer may only be 1/64 of an inch thick!
Do use beeswax products--they work fine and are the safest option. Avoid Lemon Pledge--it is the wood world equivalent of Turtle Wax. Why? Because it smears and is not very compatible with finishes.
My favorite polish is orange oil. Looks great and smells good!
Or just wipe that water up real quick and don't fuss about it. This is just a little trim, not a museum-quality antique here!
-Charlie
BoxsterCharlie said:Do use beeswax products--they work fine and are the safest option. Avoid Lemon Pledge--it is the wood world equivalent of Turtle Wax. Why? Because it smears and is not very compatible with finishes.
My favorite polish is orange oil. Looks great and smells good!
Or just wipe that water up real quick and don't fuss about it. This is just a little trim, not a museum-quality antique here!
Well, Charlie, actually a "museum-quality antique" is exactly what I am concerned about. My '75 Jag has honest-to-god wood, built by master craftsmen (of course). And I keep wondering what's the right thing to use on it. I'll confess I've used Pledge; and saw the kind of streaking you mentioned. So would orange oil be your recommendation on a vintage Concours-winning Jag?