OK, I need help. Everytime I try to make the faded and splothy blue cladding http://********************/smile/emsmilep.gif http://********************/smile/emthdown.gif on my 01 XC look decent, the dressing I apply washes off whenever the car gets wet. I've tried Maguires products, Turtle wax stuff, and other brands I can't recall. No Armorall however.
Does anyone have any ideas or successful experience in keeping the cladding looking decent. I love the car, but I'm really looking forward to my lease ending. No more unpainted cladding http://********************/smile/emthdown.gif in my future.
it's interesting that you are experiencing uneven color, since the plastic is dyed all the way through. my wife's xc has never been garaged and the plastic looks as good as the day we picked it up 2.5 yrs ago. i have heard that penut oil is good for cleaning wax out of the plastic cladding, but I have never tried it.
try some vynylex... and apply with a clean sponge or terry cloth towel. (can be old, just not full of dirt).
do this after washing the car.
vynylex will give it a nice shine for about a week....but after the first wash.. you'll just have a darker not faded plastic look without the shine. it should last maybe a month or so depending how much your car is in the sun.
I'll look for Vynylex. I'm wondering if the cladding has been coated with carnuba wax from the hands free car wash I frequent, that prevents these vinyl conditioners from adhereing and penetrating.
Any suggestions for a strong cleaner to remove buildup, I'm just a little skeptical aboiut peanut oil?
Try some "Back to Black", and no its not just for black, the stuff is actually white, and is a pastic cleaner, works great on my grey trim when it starts getting spotty.
The best thing for removing built-up wax (especially the cheap spray-on stuff from car wash places) is Dawn dish washing detergent. Strips wax right off, while being gentle on everything else. I recommend washing the whole car with it, and then applying a good wax only where it is needed (ie - the painted surfaces).
Whenever the dealer washes my wife's '02 2.4T, I immediately use dish soap to get the wax crud off of the wheels - talk about a brake-dust magnet!
I called Mothers and spoke with a tech about Back to Black, He recommended a Dawn washing followed by a rub down with kerosene and then a dressing application. Anyone ever rubbed their vinyl trim with kerosene? Sounds a bit harsh to me.
Back to Black alone will not remove wax residue. It's not a cleaner.
just wash with dawn (trust me.. it wont fix the whole thing if its wax)... and then apply tire dressing or plstic dressing.. it will make it black again.. evenly.. and will eventually fade. then you just keep reapplying it.
its a basic factor in detailing.. you'll never NOT have to apply some sort of portectant on them.
update, in case anyone cares.
I scrubbed the cladding 3 times with a teflon safe sponge and undiluted Dawn. Yes, there is improvement, but it still looks splotchy. I'm beginning to understand how worthless carnuba wax is http://********************/smile/emcrook.gif .
With the improvement I'm seeing http://********************/smile/emcocktl.gif , I think there is hope and plan to scrub it a couple more times before I apply any conditioners.
I applied a good scrubbing with peanut oil and another scrubbing with Dawn today.After which I applied a conditioner. It looks great now, but we'll see what happens. Man, this was hard work and only convinces me NOT to buy/lease another vehicle with this much plastic cladding ever again. http://********************/smile/emthdown.gif
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