Remove wax residue from coarse plastik trim

[Octane]

Just a helpful little hint on how to remove the wax residue from your trim:
(Actually my old man came up with this - studying chemistry comes in handy sometimes)

I used a silicone based lubricating spray, a papar tissue (cotton cloth should be better), a soft sponge and car shampoo.

Firstly wash the car or desired area:


Then spray some silicone spray on the cloth and work into the desired area. As you can see it is hard not to get it on the paint, so wax those areas in the end, otherwise u will leave the paint in that area unprotected (the white stuff on my pics is the tissue disintegrating):


Then wash of the lubricating spray and marvel at the trim which looks like new:


I used the following silicone spray. All silicone sprays should be similar:



(P.S. No coments on the swirl marks - i've been wanting to remove them for weeks, but never found the time... )

[igee323i]

Thank you so very much.

[corwyn]

Even cheaper...get a jar of cheap peanut butter and do the same thing.

[philsans5]

I was going to say peanut butter too! weird! If you ever need to get paint work on your care, you're going to be BUMMIN having silicone on your car. And don't go near a paint shop while it's fresh, you'll cause fish eyes for weeks.

[Octane]

I haven't tried peanut butter yet, but isn't it rather tedious work, applying it and removing it? Because the silicone spray takes very little effort.

[siknis]

i have found, meguires gold class trim detailer and a bit of elbow grease to be best method.

silicon sprays etc wear off and go back to looking the same colour, sun also affects silicon, after a while the uv will make the oil in the plastic look all funky and your up for new handles. trust me ive tried it

what do you wash your car with, thats some agressive cobwebbing

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by Octane

I haven't tried peanut butter yet, but isn't it rather tedious work, applying it and removing it? Because the silicone spray takes very little effort.

You apply it much like you apply the silicone spray, except that you don't need the cloth, so it's easier to control (i.e.-applying it only where I want it). I wear a pair of nitrile gloves and just use my fingertips to apply it, rubbing it in lightly. No real elbow grease required. Then I wash the car to get it off. Easy, and I don't have to worry about silicone on my paint.

I got the idea from a buddy who details professionally, and Philsans is no slouch, either, since he's THE premier bodyshop guy in this area.

[Dewey540i]

Peanut butter FTW!

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by Dewey540i

Peanut butter FTW!

Speak of the devil...

Sorry, Dewey. If I'd been more awake, I would have mentioned your screenname. This morning thing is so annoying...

[Octane]

I was wondering how good that Meguires stuff is, cause i think ist's the best on the South African market. I've read a lot of good stuff about it on this forum. I'm probably gonna switch to it then.

And yes i've neglected my baby for way too long now. Only waxed it every half a year or so. Used to use Shield or Ralley, but i don't think that they are any good. But the main problem in South Africa is the sand dust. The car gets covered in it and when u wash the car it acts as sanding paper.

Hope I can remove the cobwebbing though.
So how often do u guys wax your cars.
And thanx for the heads up on the silicone, but i haven't experienced any problems with it yet. I wash it of very thoroughly.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by Octane

I was wondering how good that Meguires stuff is, cause i think ist's the best on the South African market. I've read a lot of good stuff about it on this forum. I'm probably gonna switch to it then.

And yes i've neglected my baby for way too long now. Only waxed it every half a year or so. Used to use Shield or Ralley, but i don't think that they are any good. But the main problem in South Africa is the sand dust. The car gets covered in it and when u wash the car it acts as sanding paper.

Hope I can remove the cobwebbing though.
So how often do u guys wax your cars.
And thanx for the heads up on the silicone, but i haven't experienced any problems with it yet. I wash it of very thoroughly.

Probably want to rinse the car down more thoroughly before you apply the sponge, to rinse off as much of that sand dust as possible.

Will the silicone wash off? It's water-repellent by nature, and it's not like you have wax on your paint for protection (since the whole point was to use it to take wax off). I have no idea..just asking.

I do a full detail of my car at the start of the warm season, with touchups when the water stops beading up as well (couple of months?) then I make sure I do one last one before winter hits, so it'll carry me as long as possible through the cold salt and sand season, when detailing it myself is nearly impossible.

[Octane]

Here we don't have snow, so we also don't have salt, but our sand is quite bad, esp. in winter when it's very dry. I try to get most of the sand off, by hosing it down. Maybee I need to wax it more offten and use a better wax.

The paint is also glossy, making the swirl marks more visible

I use dishwashing liquid to remove the silicone. I think it removes it pretty well. I very rarely use the silicone in any case.

[philsans5]

dishwashing soap takes off even the best waxes. it's the first step we do to a heavily waxed car before paint.

[siknis]

dishwashing liquid is BAD!

use a soft detergent designed for cars, and preferably by the same company that made your wax, i have found meguires wax lasts longer when i use the softwash gel.

how to remove those swirls, depends how much clear coat you have left.
you may be able to buff them out and end up with a smooth gloss again. best thing to do would be start a test patch somwhere hard to see. with meguires scratch X, work it in. then polish the area, then wax it. see the result, how big was the improvement. wax can make a big improvement in appearance in fine swirls, however it is only masking the problem. to completly fix it you need to remove the swirls through polishing.

[Octane]

Thanks for the step by step and yes the car looks much better when waxed, also wanted to try out that ScratchX, maybee on the the underside of the mirror. I rarely use dishwashing soap, only when I use the silicone spray, usually its also softwash gel for me.

Does one need any special cloth to polish out swirlmarks?