Plastics - Splitter Refresh

[rollingjones]

Guys,
what does everybody recommend to get the plastics on the car looking fresh, the plastic mirror plates and front plastic splitter and other bits around the car.
I was thinking of back to black spray onto a cloth then rub it in but its messy, does anyone recommend a product which will get it looking nice and black again.
thanks.

 

[ADS_V6]

Solution finish mate

 

[R3k1355]

Exterior Only : Used engine oil

Seriously, it works really well.

 

[197.]

Gtechniq C4. Although be careful, cheap carwashes use a prewash cleaner that eats into the coating. You'd be better off respraying the pieces in satin black tbh.

 

[imprezaworks]

Solution finish is the best I've used. Engine oil, really?

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

CarPro Dlux

 

[Mr Plums]

Maguiars endurance tyre gel gives an awesome finish. You just have to buff for a few seconds more.

 

[Yellow Dave]

Exterior Only : Used engine oil

Seriously, it works really well.

Because engine oil will help keep it cleaner and make it easy to wash!

@rollingjones for most plastics on the Clio you have a huge selection of dressings that will all look decent and make cleaning much easier and reduce dirt build up. The front splitter and rear bumper insert get too much exposure to the conditions arm grime so most if not all dressings will fail very quickly. The only products that are likely to withstand the abuse on these areas are proper coatings like carpro DLUX or gtechniq C4. These will last and protect generally in excess of a year withy one application and will resist dirt build up and grey-ing of plastics

 

[Knuckles]

Any of the above or auto finesse revive

Do not spray paint the plastics!

 

[imprezaworks]

Solution finish is better than revive imo

 

[JD]

Exterior Only : Used engine oil

Seriously, it works really well.

Really...?

Gtechniq C4. Although be careful, cheap carwashes use a prewash cleaner that eats into the coating. You'd be better off respraying the pieces in satin black tbh.

Not true - TFR does not remove C4 as it forms a crystaline barrier.
C4 will also not bring back the backness of plastics, nor will DLUX. You need to clean and prep the area then apply these products. If your plastics are very faded, Solution Finish is the best course of action.

 

[JamesBryan]

Seen somewhere about heating plastics to bring them back to black. Never tried it though and i'm guessing you'd need to be careful not to melt them.

 

[MJRacing]

 

[JD]

Seen somewhere about heating plastics to bring them back to black. Never tried it though and i'm guessing you'd need to be careful not to melt them.

his does indeed work, but as you say, it takes high heat and a lot of checking.

 

[JamesBryan]

his does indeed work, but as you say, it takes high heat and a lot of checking.

I might try it at some point, other than that i'll bring out the Solution Finish.

 

[imprezaworks]

Application with sf is really easy too. I'm assuming it's just a dye of sorts? Back in the day I used to use bumper gel at work, which is very much like revive in texture. And although sf isn't cheap you don't need much.

 

[JamesBryan]

Application with sf is really easy too. I'm assuming it's just a dye of sorts? Back in the day I used to use bumper gel at work, which is very much like revive in texture. And although sf isn't cheap you don't need much.

Looks like a dye yeah. I'm not sure what it's made of.

 

[197.]

Really...?

Not true - TFR does not remove C4 as it forms a crystaline barrier.
C4 will also not bring back the backness of plastics, nor will DLUX. You need to clean and prep the area then apply these products. If your plastics are very faded, Solution Finish is the best course of action.

I'm only speaking from experience after I used a local car wash. Obviously they aren't all the same. Cleaning and prepping isn't that difficult or time consuming. Wash the car with a shampoo that doesn't have wax and use isopropyl alcohol. When I used it on my front grills, they looked brand new.
ETA: It didn't completely strip off the coating, it just become blotchy

 

[npt]

I used gtechnic on my 172 on all exterior plastics including front grills, they were slightly faded having never been treated before, but now look like brand new and will not need looking at for at least a year which suits me perfectly

 

[Chris_Beer]

 

[ADS_V6]

unfortunately didnt last long

 

[Knuckles]

Seen somewhere about heating plastics to bring them back to black. Never tried it though and i'm guessing you'd need to be careful not to melt them.

That's meant to be a one time fix, bringing the last of the oils to the surface or something. After it's been done you'll have to keep on top of it with trim dressing

 

[scratcher]

That's meant to be a one time fix, bringing the last of the oils to the surface or something. After it's been done you'll have to keep on top of it with trim dressing

Pretty much.
Every time you do it, it releases oils from within the plastics. If you keep doing it, the plastics will become brittle.

A good, deep clean of the plastics, apply a dressing and gently warm them and then buff away is about the best way of getting a dressing to last.

 

[JD]

I'm only speaking from experience after I used a local car wash. Obviously they aren't all the same. Cleaning and prepping isn't that difficult or time consuming. Wash the car with a shampoo that doesn't have wax and use isopropyl alcohol. When I used it on my front grills, they looked brand new.
ETA: It didn't completely strip off the coating, it just become blotchy

C4 will not degrade when exposed to even the most harsh TFR due to its make up - it is chemical resistant.
If the application became blotchy, it's unfortunately more likely there were parts of your surface that did not bond to the C4 (or rather it to the surface).

 

[R3k1355]

Engine oil, really?

Because engine oil will help keep it cleaner and make it easy to wash!

Really...?

Yes, really.

This was engine oil as (all) the plastics were light grey

 

[imprezaworks]

Looks great

 

[K_McDermott]

As mentioned previous engine oil works; also peanut butter (non chunky lol) which makes em smell nice, tyre shine back to black or wd40 what I normally use, basically whatever I've got to hand haha!


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[imprezaworks]

Peanut butter doesn't last, tried that lol

 

[ADS_V6]

Peanut butter doesn't last, tried that lol

No it won't if you lick it off the bumper

 

[welshname]

I might try it at some point, other than that i'll bring out the Solution Finish.

Be careful near your paint as it can make it bubble.

 

[rollingjones]

Cheers guys I've ordered some solution finish seems to have good feedback.

 

[JD]

Yes, really.

This was engine oil as (all) the plastics were light grey

Any pictures after a drive, i.e. showing the amount of dust and dirt oil attracts?!

 

[R3k1355]

No sorry that was a while back.
It dries off fairly quickly, after a day or abit of rain it's no longer oily or dirty to the touch.
The plastics get stained black by the dirty oil, you usually don't need to redo it.