How to remove compound/polish from textured plastic rubber moldings ?

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mankave1

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Sorry if this was asked before ?
How do you guys remove wax,compound,polish from textured plastic body trim components or rubber moldings ? Is there a few products that aid in this...
I have started compounding my F150 in Tuxedo Black, there are many light scratches & imperfections due to usage. I started masking off this vehicle ....but there has to be a better way ?

Any help appreciated.
View attachment 46959
 
mankave1 said:
Sorry if this was asked before ?
How do you guys remove wax,compound,polish from textured plastic body trim components or rubber moldings ? Is there a few products that aid in this...
I have started compounding my F150 in Tuxedo Black, there are many light scratches & imperfections due to usage. I started masking off this vehicle ....but there has to be a better way ?

Any help appreciated.
View attachment 46959
Click to expand...

I've used Einszett Plastic Deep Cleaner on exterior trim to remove compound/polish with good results. I usually spray on a mf towel and then rub on the trim. I've also used a small brush along with the cleaner for trim with deeper textures.
 
Light agitation with a magic eraser and water work wonders.
 
For the Rubber trimming I would get yourself a stiff brush at one of the big box store in the cleaning asle, then I would pick up a small bottle of Solution finish and seal.. Should last 12 months or more. IM still testing this product.
 
Your options are:

1. Mask trim
2. Use a product that doesn't stain trim
3. Clean up afterward

They are numbered in my preferred order. Not many non-staining compounds out there.
 
The engineer who developed pebble textured black plastic trim has obviously NEVER detailed a car before. :laughing:


Me?

If I work on a car with the cursed pebble textured black plastic trim, (or any color of pebble textured plastic trim I take the time to mask it off so I don't have to work as careful and I don't have to deal with forever stained trim.

A person can work slowly and carefully and avoid getting compound, polish and wax splatter on trim in the first place but cheap insurance is to tape it off before hand.

I cover this in all my how-to book and even cover this in my boat detailing book for non-skid surfaces.

Ever try to get dried compound or wax residue of painted non-skid?


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
The engineer who developed pebble textured black plastic trim has obviously NEVER detailed a car before. :laughing:
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Ha ha, good one, Mike, I have thoughts like that when doing other things on my car--like did they actually think about how you were going to get to this part to replace it when they designed the car? I think I said that after an hour and a half trying to get the retaining clip back on my headlight bulb with my head upside down and my hand in the 2" gap (where you can't see what you are doing because your hand is in the way).

Or how the oil filter is on the back of the block against the firewall, and if it wasn't hard enough just to see, it's almost impossible to take the filter off without dripping oil down the side of the block, onto the engine cradle, etc. Where some cars you spin the filter, the oil drips clear of everything, and you don't get a drop on anything (except your drain pan). /rant
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Ha ha, good one, Mike, I have thoughts like that when doing other things on my car--like did they actually think about how you were going to get to this part to replace it when they designed the car? I think I said that after an hour and a half trying to get the retaining clip back on my headlight bulb with my head upside down and my hand in the 2" gap (where you can't see what you are doing because your hand is in the way).

Or how the oil filter is on the back of the block against the firewall, and if it wasn't hard enough just to see, it's almost impossible to take the filter off without dripping oil down the side of the block, onto the engine cradle, etc. Where some cars you spin the filter, the oil drips clear of everything, and you don't get a drop on anything (except your drain pan). /rant
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Oh so very true. Pebble textured trim is the pure evil. In the winter when the car is grimy, it's even hard to clean some times. Too bad there isn't a way to polish it smooth.

You're headlight story hit home. I attempted to change the plugs in my wife's Highlander a few weeks back. Toyota in their infinite wisdom decided that hiding the back set of plugs (horizontally mounted engine) UNDER the manifold AND the top of the cowling where the windshield meets the car is a good idea. There is a ton of stuff back there in the engine bay and I couldn't even see the middle plug. Needless to say, I didn't even try it. I took the car and the plugs to my mechanic and let him deal with it. It still took him nearly three hours to do the job due to all the disassembly/reassembly work required. For simple spark plugs...
 
I tape when there is rubber or trim around, sometimes someone else has already done the deed and now I need to clean it. I have been using the mother trim cleaner to fix that. Just did a new Escalade and whoever touched it before left a HUGE streak of wax on the back step. Couldn't believe it.
 
Desertnate said:
For simple spark plugs...
Click to expand...

Ha, you obviously haven't seen the V-engines where the intake runners go back over one bank and you have to take the upper half of the manifold off to change the plugs. I guess there may be some straight 4's like that also.
 
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