*&%^$@ Ford Plastic

[PonySHO]

Ford's always had that plastic molding everywhere that's a ***** to get the wax off of. It really shows up after it gets wet and dries a few times. I was very sloppy last fall waxing the car, I wanted to get some coats on it before winter and figured I'd just scrub it off in the spring. The scrub brush didn't do a thing. I tried a brass toothbrush, but it was digging into the plastic! Then I used a 3M scrubbing pad with straight Dawn soap, scrubbing the he[[ out of it 3 times! There's still a shadow of it there. I got some No. 7 Bug & Tar remover made by Rain Dance, but it's got xylene and petroleum spirits in it. Seeing that the brass toothbrush was digging into it, I didn't want to take a chance with that. Anybody got any suggestions? I know, I'll have to mask it off next time, but what a pain in the a$$ that is! And I know about stuff like Turtle Wax Ice that doesn't do that, but I like my Meguiars.

 

[sperold]

Try another soap besides Dawn. It has a reputation of being completely harmless, and maybe it is too "harmless" to do the job.
I have always been told to never wash a car with dish-soap as it strips the wax off, so let the stripping begin on your trim.
I don't know enough about the black trim on the SHO..... did the wax convert it from flat black to shiny black, or is it textured and the wax is visible in the irregularities?

 

[PonySHO]

I used the Dawn on just the plastic. I wouldn't use it on the paint unless I wanted to strip the car. The wax leaves a white shadow on the plastic... it looks like crap. Maybe I'll try some Soft Scrub.

 

[wchain]

Use a toothbrush and toothpaste with baking soda.

I use Zaino polish and waxes, which fortunately dont leave white when they dry.

Can I suggest the use of scotch blue painters tape on all the plastic when you wax your car? It takes a little longer but the results are fantastic.

 

[IM Buddy8]

I honestly know the BEST way.. I have no doubt it will solve your problem.. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.. Scrub the **** out of it with a wet Mr. Clean and then hose it off. You will know when your done because the eraser will be deteriorating away and the plastic will be smoothe and shiny again. And guess what when it dries it won't be white anymore Also when your done put back to black on it and it will look pristine again

 

[LJRuddy]

Use a toothbrush and toothpaste with baking soda.

I use Zaino polish and waxes, which fortunately dont leave white when they dry.

Can I suggest the use of scotch blue painters tape on all the plastic when you wax your car? It takes a little longer but the results are fantastic.

This.


Works well for 16 year old SHOs... Will work even better for brand new ones. The toothpaste also gives your car 24 hour tatar control.

 

[way2evil]

I honestly know the BEST way.. I have no doubt it will solve your problem.. Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.. Scrub the **** out of it with a wet Mr. Clean and then hose it off. You will know when your done because the eraser will be deteriorating away and the plastic will be smoothe and shiny again. And guess what when it dries it won't be white anymore Also when your done put back to black on it and it will look pristine again

Dont use back to black. Its a stain and it will turn out ****** if not applied correctly. Use a water based rub on tire shine on the plastic.

 

[RonPorter]

Try another soap besides Dawn. It has a reputation of being completely harmless, and maybe it is too "harmless" to do the job.
I have always been told to never wash a car with dish-soap as it strips the wax off, so let the stripping begin on your trim.
I don't know enough about the black trim on the SHO..... did the wax convert it from flat black to shiny black, or is it textured and the wax is visible in the irregularities?

No, it doesn't. That's the BS told by the car wash solution folks to sell you their overpriced soap.

Any soap, dish soap or other, needs to be strong enough to get crap off. I have tried a few of those car wash solutions in the past. Other than lightening my wallet, they weren't worth it.

Wax will degrade over time. On a daily driver, carnauba wax is gone within a few months anyway. OTOH, Meguiars NYT and their #20 polymer last longer. Depends what you like.

I have used it in a few years, but I recall Back to Black (made by Mothers, I think) worked pretty well on the black rough-surface stuff.

 

[wchain]

Wax will degrade over time. On a daily driver, carnauba wax is gone within a few months anyway. OTOH, Meguiars NYT and their #20 polymer last longer. Depends what you like.

I used to be a big Meguiars fan and used their NXT on my Marauder, but found that it only seemed to last 3 or 4 hand washes.

Now on the daily drivers I use Zaino AIO and it seems to have held up 6 months and counting.

As far as using dish soap, I used to do that too, however, now I use car wash soap, and I can vouch that the wax lasts longer and the paint beads water longer using Car wash soap vs Dish Soap. Meguiars Deep Crystal car wash costs less for a 128 oz jug than the old ladys palmolive.

 

[RonPorter]

I used to be a big Meguiars fan and used their NXT on my Marauder, but found that it only seemed to last 3 or 4 hand washes.

Now on the daily drivers I use Zaino AIO and it seems to have held up 6 months and counting.

As far as using dish soap, I used to do that too, however, now I use car wash soap, and I can vouch that the wax lasts longer and the paint beads water longer using Car wash soap vs Dish Soap. Meguiars Deep Crystal car wash costs less for a 128 oz jug than the old ladys palmolive.

I did my usual (at the time) 3-step on the LGT (back when I had an interest in doing it. Cleaner, #7 Polish, and NXT.

Hate to admit that I did not do a polish/wax again for three years (Fall '05 to Summer '08). Used all automatic car washes, and the car was still beading and looked good.

For a daily driver, polymers rock!!

 

[SHOCH]

Due to my 18 year old black paint I only use Black Turtle Wax to help fill in the scratches, at least it's grey when I touch trim.
If we're talking about the back window trim on a 89-95 like mine, the Back to Black is better than nothing but seems real greasy. It makes the good parts great but IMHO the rough stuff looks no better.
I was thinking of using a dye. I was told there was a product from Stoner but never got a return call from a sales rep. I might just prime it and paint it.

 

[Unknown_Driver]

you guys need to sign up for autopia.org

they have tips and tricks on proper detailing...


try quick detailer and a microfibre cloth

that doesn't work try meguiars back to black it usually works for excess wax on plastic trim should be in every damn wal mart lol

what wax was it? are you using NXT 2.0? liquid or canned?

 

[RonPorter]

you guys need to sign up for autopia.org

they have tips and tricks on proper detailing...


try quick detailer and a microfibre cloth

that doesn't work try meguiars back to black it usually works for excess wax on plastic trim should be in every damn wal mart lol

what wax was it? are you using NXT 2.0? liquid or canned?

Signed up for autopia years ago, and haven't been back in almost as many years.

I would rather go to the dentist than detail my car. I wash each myself maybe once a year, the rest are automatic cars washes. When I was young, I actually enjoyed this crap, now it's a chore.

I like them clean and looking good, but it's not worth my time anymore.

NXT liquid.

 

[bill murray]

Ron:

YOU DA MAN............

I went through all of those special waxes/cleaners etc. etc. for probably 30 years.

Given the paint that we have today on most vehicles, I now take mine to the car wash, a good one, I pay my $25 bucks every month or so depending on the rain/pollen situation, and my car/s look pretty OK to me.

Mind you, I do not show my vehicles at any car shows, I just want them to look "good".

Bill

 

[IM Buddy8]

Dont use back to black. Its a stain and it will turn out ****** if not applied correctly. Use a water based rub on tire shine on the plastic.

Or just use back to black and apply it correctly.. It will absorb the sun and weather instead of the plastic too. If you do it every 3 months or so on a new car people will think the car is brand new for the next 3 years easy.. It's not that hard to apply correctly. It will take at MOST 20 minutes to do a great job. Just make sure you use just a skim coat you don't want to soak it because when it rains.. And dries you will see where the excess ran down. Your supposed to wipe the excess off after your done with the whole car.

And go get a magic eraser and scrub it while everythings wet. When it dries that wax u want to get rid of will be gone. I promise.. I've done it to a Ford Focus, Gen II SHO, Dodge SRT-4. It brings the plastic back to new it's amazing really. You will see it will be nice and fresh looking and it actually will dry like that.

 

[SHOclub1]

I solved this problem years ago, the solution is a WURTH product called Rubber Care.

I have been selling detail products for years and only sell what works for me and my customers. Lots of "detail" web sites have their favorite stuff, but most often it has some baggage or some detailer pushing it. yes, I am pushing this stuff, but I don't care if you buy from me and I don't surf web sites pushing my business. I DO go here because of my history with the SHO and the Club and the conventions. Ask others here, I only speak up when I feel necessary.

Wurth Rubber care is a clear product that will take those hard pebbly plastic pieces that are discolored with wax (don't get me started on liquid waxes....! Stay with a quality carnauba paste). I found this out from a friend that sold the product years ago.

I sell it so do lots of others, but right now you can't get it in CA and some other states due to VOC's. It is safe to use on paint and plastics, and Wurth is working on a formula to meet CA's silly rules.

If you are interested, contact me off the list and I can talk you through how to use it and get good results. I tried Back to Black and don't like the result. Rubber Care leaves the item looking like new, but it may take several applications before the effect is permanent. It isn't expensive and goes a long way. Works on all this plastic like stuff around wipers, roof racks, caps on pickup truck bumpers etc. Also, is great for its main purpose, protecting and conditioning soft rubber seals. Great to use under hood for detailing on hoses and other black plastic.

 

[itguy08]

I've had good luck removing the wax gunk with Poorboy's Trim Restorer. Works great to keep black trim looking black. Cheap and effective.

 

[PonySHO]

Thanks guys for all the input. I've gotten most of it off with Dawn and a 3M scrub pad. I'll try the Mr. Clean eraser for the remainder. As far as the products that have been recommended, a stain isn't quite the product i'd like to use. My idea is to get the wax residue off first and then use a plastic trim treatment/protectant type product. I never had such a problem getting the wax residue off before, the solution is not to get it on there in the first place! Although I think it's ludicrous to have to mask off the plastic, it's that or buy something like Turtle Wax Ice.
On a side note, I've used a couple coats of Meguiars NXT 2.0 paste and it doesn't last at all. I put it on a couple months ago, washed it once by hand with Meguiars Car Wash. I just washed it again a couple days ago and it's not beading up and very little shine after drying. I've got some Zaino that's several years old, but never opened. Maybe I'll try that when I have time to do it right. Last fall, I put on 2 coats of Meguiars NXT liquid and then a coat of the NXT paste (the original NXT) and it appeared to last through the whole winter. It beaded up half way decent in the spring.

 

[PonySHO]

I picked up Mother's Back to Black at Wally World... under $6. It's not a dye type stuff, a creamy white liquid. I tried it on a spot, looked like it'll be OK. Poorboys and Wurth might be better stuff, but to buy it online would be too much by the time they nail ya for shipping.

 

[SHOclub1]

FYI, not everyone "nails" you for shipping. Most anything with chemicals has to ship UPS these days, and I charge about 50 cents to a dollar more than I pay, and that has to cover a box that costs 50 cents to a dollar plus packing materials and the gas to get it to the drop-off point. A lot of places add 2-5 bucks on top of their shipping cost, and then add a handling fee of several dollars. But just thought I would mention not everyone does that.