[jeeptofocus]

There have been some real good tips I've got from this forum about cleaning your black trim. I'm going to list as much as I can and then tell you what seems to work best for me.

There have been lots of tips and secrets to get nasty dried up wax off the precious trim, but many people have their own way. A few ways to clean up the trim are:

1. Eraser - works wonders, trust me. Best of all, they are super cheap, providing you don't alreay have some. The only downside it the eraser "shavings." They're easy to brush off though, especially with that new coat of wax on your ride.

2. Simple green and a used toothbrush. I have not used this method, but it supposedly works good. But it also costs more than the eraser.

3. Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer. Works like the eraser, minus the shavings. At ~$5 bucks a bottle, it's more for the people who love their car and obess about car care (like me).

4. WD40 - At $5 a can and for the end result, I've found this isnt worth it. Yes it works, but not well enough for the price.

5. Armor All - Works good for a shine. I havn't used it for wax removal, but I really don't see it working as a wax remover.


Finally what I like to do, meaning it is very cost effective, considering I already own all of the following products because as I mentioned earlier, I obsess over my car's cleanliness. A combination of using the eraser and once the wax is gone, shine it up with tire shine. My brand of choice, Black Magic. Brand really doesn't matter, but I'm quite fond of Black Magic. All of their product's that I've used have all been quality stuff.

Picture of one piece of trim with tire shine and one without.

Good luck and keep your trim clean! [thumb]

 

[fordblue72]

4. WD40 - At $5 a can and for the end result, I've found this isnt worth it. Yes it works, but not well enough for the price.

^^^^ I wouldn't use the WD 40 on the plastic, it will probably eat it up WD-40 petrol-distillates and the sun willn't help!!

 

[jeeptofocus]

oops, I just realized I should have posted this in the Auto Washing & Detailing section. Some reason I thought I was in that one and not Exterior Body & Lighting Chat. So if a mod could move this for me that would be great. Sorry for putting it in the wrong place.

 

[need4speed2345]

peanut butter. it will make those trim pieces look like they were brand new, and it will last for quite a long time, till you have to do it again.

 

[thedashingbuddha]

Mothers back to black is wonderful.

 

[jeeptofocus]

Yeah I've heard about the peanut butter, but I didn't want to put it in because I havn't used it and don't want to be blamed if it doesnt work or someone didnt do it right. But with the back to black I really didn't want to list all of the products. But mainly hitting on the different ways to go about cleaning it.

 

[Logan175]

So thats how it WORKS! [] I have always wanted to know how to get that extra bit of wax off when I use my buffer.

Logan

 

[loudfocus01]

you are all putting too much work into this. Lmao, all you have to do is not put any wax on the trim. just wash it with regualr car soap and it wont look like crap. Mine stays nice and black all the time. the wax is what makes them look bad.

 

[Klondike]

^^true but when you wax its hard not to hit the trim, esp. when you wanna get as close to it as you can, i just use armoror or back to black and itll clean it up nice

 

[Dcl2049]

I've found that after a week or so, the armor all fades and the white is still on the trim. I use the eraser, and I try to get the wedge-ended ones so I can use the corners to get the hard to reach places. They work great.

 

[Klondike]

lol takes a few days and armor fails for me, i just wash it really well and usually it comes out, i might just paint em black

 

[jeeptofocus]

the nice thing about the tire shine is that, for me anyway, lasts about the same length of time as the time between washings. So once the car is dry, I go out and do little detail work and hit up the tires and trim.