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TRIM CARE

Preserve and restore rubber and plastic



Introduction Products that don't stain Wax Removal Back to Black Dielectric Grease Product Comparison Tire Care

Introduction

You can't ignore the trim. "Trim" is used broadly to mean all the plastic and rubber moldings around the car. These are the parts that most people do not notice, but as they fade, become gray and cracked over time, they will make the car look awful, despite perfectly healthy paint with a good shine. To really give your car the showroom look, you've got to protect and dress the trim and tires.
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Products that don't stain

Perhaps before we discuss treatment of your trim, I should say that prevention is an even better idea. It makes no sense to put sealants and waxes on the car that will ruin the trim, and them spend an extra hour cleaning the trim and dressing. Better to use a product that won't stain in the first place.

Throw away anything you have that says "wax" or "carnauba" on the label or in the fine print. First of all, waxes are comletely outdated technology. You'll get far easier application and longer lasting results with a modern synthetic sealant. Examples are Zaino (best), Meguiar's NXT, Rejex, or Meguiar's #21. Besides being inferior in protection, ease of application, ease of removal, and durability, anything that has wax in it is going to stain your trim. Once you get wax on the trim, it can be near impossible to get off. And it will make the trim look white, yellow, and hideous.

Do yourself a favor. Change to a more modern product that won't ruin the trim in the first place! Below is a list of products that I and others have determined to be safe on trim:

  1. Zaino (my firsthand experience) - Z2Pro, Z5Pro, Clearseal, PC fusion are all completely safe. Will cause no discoloration or harm if they get on the trim.
  2. Turtlewax Ice - used by others in Corvetteforum, said to cause no staining.
  3. Formula 113 - one member (Covert_405) has personal experience with no staining

As you can tell, my experience is quite limited. I have no interest in spending time and money testing a multitude of products. After I tried Zaino, my results on the paint, and the complete lack of damage to my trim, were perfect for my needs, so there was never any need for further experimentation after that. I've stuck with Zaino and have no plans to change.

Products that DO stain

  1. Meguiar's #6 and #23 (personal experience)
  2. Any carnauba wax
  3. Meguiar's NXT (personal experience, also confirmed by members Mrosa65 and Agentf1)
  4. Rejex - have not used this myself. Reported by detailers Mrosa65, Goose, and Agentf1to cause chalky white stains on some textured surfaces and window trim.

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Wax Removal

If you've made the mistake of getting one of the staining products on your trim, you'll find removal very difficult. Here are some products to try:

  1. Quick detailer and cotton or microfiber cloth: for very light discoloration, this can do the trick. Meguiar's quick detailer has helped me a bit in the past, to remove old wax residue from door handles. This is not the intended use of the product, but if you have some anyway, it is worth a try. However, it's likely you'll have to resort to other things.
  2. Paint thinner - don't worry, it will do absolutely no harm to your vehicle's cured paint. Just wipe on the trim and scrub a bit with a T-shirt. Very good at removing all residue from other trim products, wax, and grease. Wash the area afterward, including any exposed paint surfaces.
  3. Wax Blaster - this has become my product of first choice. It is made precisely for this purpose, and it works. Comes in a bottle with a sponge on the top, just like one of those "instant shoe polish" bottles. Very effective, very easy to use. Recommended!
  4. Peanut butter - believe it or not, this has become something of a detailer's legend. I've never used it myself, but there are plenty of guys in the forums who will swear by it. For me it's definitely NOT worth the mess or hassle, when there is another product so much easier and, I'm sure, more effective.
  5. The Amazing Roll-Off - specifically made to remove mold from canvas sails on boats, my own experience with this has been excellent. It was the only thing that could get Menzerna Intensive Polish off my black fabric top on my convertible. If you need to remove stains from vinyl or fabric tops, this is probably your answer.
  6. 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner #08987 - I have not had an occaision to use this yet myself, but it is recommended to me by other professional detailers if you need to remove old trim dressings or wax from your trim.

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Mother's Back to black®

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 This is my own favorite to treat all the trim on my vehicles. First make sure that the trim item has been thoroughly cleaned with auto shampoo. If there are any prior layers of trim dressings on the item, make sure to remove them with one of the products above. Only once you are certain that you have a clean base surface can you apply a restorative product like Back to Black. I just apply it with a piece of cotton T-shirt, let it soak in, and with severely damaged trim, do a second treatment 15 minutes later. After heavy rain or another washing, much of the benefit will be lost, so you'll have to reapply. Eventually you'll see that you'll obtain a long-lasting improvement and need to reapply less often. It's the best single product I've found

Read customer opinions on Back to Black


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Dielectric Grease

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The Corvette service manual actually recommends for all rubber trim and window mouldings, that you treat regularly with dielectric grease (GM product #12345579). It does a failrly good job, restoring a nice shine to the window mouldings where I have used it. Just apply with a very small dab on your finger and spread it out. It is, well, greasy! So you'll find that anyone who touches the trim afterward will smear it all over your door. Still, it is inexpensive, and worth a try. I'd give it a preference #2 (only for the window mouldings and trim, not for plastics) after my first preference, which is Back to Black.

Click on the thumbnail images below for a look at the nice final result from dielectric grease:

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Product Comparisons

You'll find some very nice product comparisons published at Josh Wardell's web page.Click on the images to go to the full reviews.

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In case these web pages are taken down at some time in the future, you can download pdf versions of the articles here:

Wardell Trim Test pdf.
Wardell Tire Products Test pdf.

These reviews are very good, and I encourage you to read them. However I cannot agree with the author's conclusion that "Forever Black" is the best product to use. My own experience with this product was HORRIBLE, and I would certainly not recommend it to anyone.

It is simply a black dye. It is extremely messy. You'll have stains all over your hands, the paint of the car, the windows - anything that it touches or drips on. And it won't color anything that is not a very porous material. For me the results were so entirely hideous that I had to go over all the trim again with a firm sponge and paint thinner to remove it. I threw it away and would never consider using it again.

If you do decide to use "Forever Black", do so very cautiously . Apply it only on the smallest and most inconspicuous test area first and wait for it to dry fully before you proceed. You've been warned - so if you mess up your Vette with this stuff, you only have yourself to blame ! eek.gif

 


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Tire Care

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Just like trim care, you should avoid staining the tires with any wax products, so don't use them ! Also, on eash washing of the vehicle, you should strip off all layers of previous tire dressings and goo, and get the rubber totally clean. Allow it to dry, then apply a trusted dressing. Here is what I suggest:

  1. Always clean the tires and wheels first, before you go after the painted surface of the car. In this way, any overspray that gets on the paint can be cleaned off later.
  2. Spray Wesley's Bleche White, thoroughly covering the rubber surface of the tire, but avoid spray on painted surfaces. Allow to stand for one minute. Then soak your tire brust in a bucket with some autoshampoo/water. Scrub the tire, rinse and let dry completely.
  3. Only after completely dry, apply your tire dressing. The best by far is Zaino Z16 tire gloss. Apply with a Eagle 1 tire swipe, shown on my detailing page.
  4. Use "Simple Green" or "Poorboy's Wheel Cleaner" to spray the face and the inside barrels of the wheels. Do one wheel at a time, allow to dwell for one minute.
  5. Then soak EZ Detail Brush in a bucket with shampoo/water, thoroughly all wheel surfaces and rinse.
  6. If your wheels are clear-coated or chrome, apply a coating of your favorite sealant to the surface to help keep dirt from adhering.

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