This may be obvious to most folks, but foam applicators are the neatest and most efficient way to apply vinyl dressing to your exterior moulding. I like the EagleOne applicators the best for the wheel arches. They are the perfect shape. If you don't have those handy, these foam wax applicators work great, too. I use foam swabs or foam paint brushes to apply dressing to smaller trim areas.

Apply the dressing of your choice to the applicator first, not to the trim directly. Then wipe on the trim.

Something that most people overlook, and it drives me nuts, is the wheel wells. Give the wheel well liners a quick spalsh of dressing to make them look black as well. A dressing such as this will make them look very black. One of the easiest fastest products on the market is this. I use it every week. Spray this inside, even dirty wheel wells, and it makes them look black and clean. It's like cheating and not washing. It's fantastic!

 

Those Eagle One applicators do look nice. Have you found anyplace in STL that stocks them, or do you get them online?

I guess I often glaze over the difference between the dressing used to clean vs. protect vinyl and rubber. I typically "clean" the trim with a hogshair brush and shampoo. Then I'll clean my tires with a stiff brush and a degreaser like Simple Green. As a final step, I'll apply a dressing to both trim and tires to leave a matte finish.
But...
Are you saying that you will use the Meg's #40 to clean tires and trim; and then apply Meg's #38 as a finish dressing? If so, where would products like 303 Aerospace or Einszett Tiefenpfleger fall (cleaner or protectants)? Do you think that use of a specific trim/rubber cleaner before applying a dressing will give me better results than my shampoo/deagreaser method. I'm quite interested because I've been a bit frustrated with the difficulty I've had in keeping my MINI's trim looking good for more than a few days at a time.

I've never seen that Stoner's trim shine. Do you just spray it on and hose it off, or do you agitate the wheel well with something?

Thanks!

 

Get the EagleOne applicators at WalMart.

Be weary of degreasers on tires. Any cleaners with petroleum solvents in them is DEATH to rubber and vinyl. It leeches into the surface and dries it out causing cracks. The old Armour All is an excellent example. THIS 1Z vinyl cleaner is a far better product to use as a cleaner. I use this a lot! It's also less abrasive than constant brush use on hard trim like wheel arches. (Unless they are really soft brushes.) I use this on the tires, interior, exterior and on the seats, etc.

There are dozens of good dressing choices. I just used those two examples. You could use #40 all by itself. #38 is, IMO, a little heavy for the trim, but ok for tires and wheel wells. 1Z Tiefenpfleger is an excellent choice as a dresssing. I like that a lot. 303 is an interior protectant-and a great one! I use it religiously. It has the highest UV protection on the market. It won't last long on the exterior, however.

Trim shine is just a spray-on walk away product. No touching, no wiping. Super easy and fast. Like I said, it's like cheating it's so easy!

PS...I love your photo!

 

That's a shocker! I know enough to stay away from Armour All; but I always thought of Simple Green as my secret low cost/high performace wheel and tire cleaning weapon. I guess it will still be OK for wheels (or do you have more shocking news for me ). I've been meaning to make an Autopia order anyway, I guess I'll just add some 1Z to the list.


Perhaps that's what is causing my durability issue. I've been using 303 as an all-purpose vinyl protectant. I'm going to need more shelves in my garage...

 

Let me tell you a story about Simple Green. If you do a search on Autopia forums I documented the situation a couple years ago and it's quite famous. To make a long story short, over a period of a year or so I destroyed a set of VERY expensive factory Speedline wheels on my Audi Coupe Quattro. I was cleaning them with SG and water every week, sometimes more than once a week. Always a cold wheel. Rinse the wheel first, spray the SG, wipe with sponge, rinse well. No big deal. 6+ months went by and one day I noticed the wheels were getting dull but I just chalked it up to age and my bad luck or something. (I wasn't as "wise" as I am now. But every bit as careful and **** ) So anyway, for whatever reason I looked at the matching spare wheel which was unused and compared it to the wheels on the car. Holy #$%# The SG had slowly eaten away and dulled the clearcoat on the wheels. It happened so slowly that it was not readily apparent. But when you can compare it to an untouched wheel it was shocking. I did research by talking to Speedline reps and several other manufacturers and they agreed that they would NEVER recommend SG for use in cleaning their wheels.

Use only cleaners that you can verify as acid free cleaners. Even too overly alkaline cleaners are unecessary. P21S is one of the safest wheel cleaners. It is available in regular and a super strong gel. Regular is good enough for most applications. 1Z is also very good and completely non-acidic.

 

I was joking about you having more shocking news for me regarding SG...

Well...I just don't know what to say about that. I think I'll go rock back and forth for a while (maybe curl up in a ball) and see if that doesn't help.
I guess my shopping list just got a little longer.

Thanks for the tip. I appreciate it.

 

I use the Eagle One applicators too for applying vinyl protectant, polymer finish, etc. I throw them in the washer afterwards. The only problem is that, after a few washes, the plastic backing separates from the foam.

 

In my humble opinion, THIS is what trim should look like:



Stoner Trim Shine, thank you very much

 

Very nice!

Be sure not to get the dressing on your paint though, it attracts more dirt!

 

That's what you call a well looked after trim. Mines in a shocking state due to baked on Wax. I've tried every product under the sun but I've found nothing that permanently removes it. It always reappears.:( I'm going to give Peanut Oil a try as many people have recommended.

 

--->LMB; there's still nothing better for wax removal on black plastic than peanut oil. Yes, seriously.


--->KiLO; with Stoner Trim Shine, you don't have to worry about getting it on your paint; it will buff off with virtually no effort. I agree, however, that some "lesser" (chuckle, chuckle) trim products do attract dust and dirt.

 

I recently started to use 1Z as a window cleaner and peanut oil to restore the plastic trim........both work fabulously. Sounds like I need to stop using
simple green on my wheels/tires and use the 1Z for that, as well as for plastic trim.

Should I stop using Armour-all as a trim dressing?

 

What about 303? That's what I use on my trim right now... It does seem to attract dirt if I get it on the paint. Would that be considered better for inside detailing only?

 

Herby-
Check my explanation on Armor All on another trim dressing thread.

1Z is a great glass cleaner.

Peanut oil does zilch to "restore" plastic. The oil simply coats well and has a temporary gloss that looks nice. It also will help lift some dirt wax from the pores if you use a stiff brush.

The trick is to NOT use products that fill the pores to begin with (meaning wax and inferior or improper dressings) and to use proper procedures to keep the pores clean when they do get dirty.

KiLO-
I discussed 303 elsewhere as well. Yep, it's a better interior dressing.

 

OK......I have gotten rid of my Simple Green.....and the peanut oil. Instead,
I'm now using 1Z vinyl cleaner and 1Z vinyl & rubber care on the exterior trim. On the inside, I'm using Lexol Vinylex Protectant. For the windows I'm using 1Z glass cleaner and lZ glass polish. Looks like the 1Z products do the job for me.......I don't feel like I need to experiment any more.

Any recommendations on 1Z Wheel Cleaner vs. P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner?

 

They are both super good. Totally safe and they do a great job. Of the two however, the P21S Gel is the strongest and you will use up more of it per every application. (It is thick.) So it's more costly.

If you let your wheels go dirty for a long, long time, get the P21S Gel.

I do not let my wheels get that bad and I prefer the 1Z because it's a better value. In fact, I can even dilute it almost 50/50 with water and it STILL does a first rate cleaning job. (I wash my wheels weekly and they are waxed twice a year inside and out)