wax on the plastic

I use either a prep solvent or even a really light & quick wipe with laquer thinner belive it or not, but laquer thinner can be dangerous too if you don't use it very sparingly & not let it wet for too long, a damp quick wipe can do wonders & too much will just melt & ruin the plastic... guys yell at me for saying laquer thinner because it is true, you can do more damage than good without experience... a prep solvent is a bit more safe but still can do damage if you over do it... either one of these methods can leave the plastic looking a little dry, so you'll want to treat it after with a dressing...

I've tried magic eraser too & from what I remember it didn't do any real damage but also leaves a kind of dry look...

my painter once recommended oven cleaner when we had a customers mazda that was really caked on wax on the lower trims, it somewhat worked too, we used like 10 different things on that one to get it back to right...
 
Had somebody else detail my car for the first time last week and he actually used masking tape over the trim before polish & wax. Such a simple idea. Think I might do that myself next time.
 
jumbosrule said:
Had somebody else detail my car for the first time last week and he actually used masking tape over the trim before polish & wax. Such a simple idea. Think I might do that myself next time.
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I personally think it's easiest to just wax without care of going over the trim and just taking a cloth with rubbing alcohol and one wipe will get rid of it.

Not sure what's faster -- but I'm guessing less time to wipe vs taping all the trim.
 
Chedman13 said:
I personally think it's easiest to just wax without care of going over the trim and just taking a cloth with rubbing alcohol and one wipe will get rid of it. Not sure what's faster -- but I'm guessing less time to wipe vs taping all the trim.
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The talk about using products that dry out the plastic is enough for me not to want to use any solvent on plastic, even if it is fast.

But whatever works for you!
 
jumbosrule said:
The talk about using products that dry out the plastic is enough for me not to want to use any solvent on plastic, even if it is fast.

But whatever works for you!
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I know my poor car. But, point taken. Does it really harm the plastic that much? I don't soak the plastic, it is as you say, dries instantly. If I'm not lazy, I wipe it down with armorall.
 
jumbosrule said:
Had somebody else detail my car for the first time last week and he actually used masking tape over the trim before polish & wax. Such a simple idea. Think I might do that myself next time.
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Usually, we detailers tape the car only when polishing because the machine buffers (rotary or sometimes even random orbital) gliding over the trims can make that part of the trim shinier than it should be, or sometimes even burn the plastic. If not machine polishing, there is really no need to tape the car. It's a waste of tape & time. As the other guy mentioned, an alcohol/water spray bottle or Quick Detailer & MF or terry towel can easily remove the unwanted wax from the plastic before it dries.
 
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I hate when my guys go & tape everything up for polishing a car, I'm talking window moldings & places there afraid they may burn if not taped... what a waste of time & materials, but with the textured semigloss trim like our lowers guess it's not such a bad idea when polishing... for just waxing it's way overkill I think too, but, when your working on your own car on your own time then overkill is not always such a horrible thing either I guess...
 
Fair enough - mine was masked for machine polishing so it seems the general consensus is consistent on this one. We just left the tape on until after the wax.
 
an old freind used to dress his black rubber & plastic moldings with tire shine before application of wax. i never thought that was something i needed to do but that was his own little trick. if anything would get on the dressed up material, it would just wipe off easily this way.
i have my own trick for not getting wax on the moldings.
 
how about just using a product like Zaino that doesn't leave any wax marks on the black plastic trim and them you don't have to do anything except be careful not to look at the finish in the direct sun or it will burn your corneas...
 
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