I need a little help. I have sport stripes on my mini and they have a bunch of dirty brown spots on them that didnt come off after a wash. I dont want to completly ruin them by using diffrent cleaning products. Is there even a way to clean them up or are they pretty much shot?

 

I would try cleaning them really well with soapy water, and a light rubbing compound (don't rub too hard). It might bring up the original luster of the decal.

 

I use a non abrasive polish on mine. Not a wax or cleaner though.

 

What color are the stripes? White stripes stain very easily. You can keep them looking new by waxing them which offers some protection, but once they are stained, it's pretty hard to fix them. Sometimes a light buffing can improve them. Look at these stripes...look at the edges...they were covered in tape while I buffed them..after removing the tape, you can see how dirty they unpolished stripes were.



You can see the blue tape along the edges here

 

They are white stripes. I used some polish on them and got most of it off. Theres a few stains that didnt want to come off but it looks better than before. Thanks guys.

 

Mine were looking pretty awful after 9 months of winter + no garage...

I used some wheel cleaner on a rag and was surprised at how well it cleaned them up. I was hesitant to give this a try, but would have replaced them anyway if it didn't work.

If you do this, I'd recommend waxing over them ASAP. I did not and they are more prone to spotting now than they were before.

 

I realize this thread has been inactive for awhile, but I thought I would post another good way to clean stripes. I have white stripes and they were pretty grayed and spotty. I used Meguiar's PlastX plastic cleaner on mine and it worked great! After I cleaned them I waxed the bonnet and the stripes. It really worked good, they look like new. I thought I was going to have to replace them, but not now.

 

I had the same problem with my last MINI that had white stripes. I tried EVERYTHING, and finally found the solution. Simple Green. I got a spray bottle of Simple Green and covered the stripes and left it for a minute. Came back with a microfiber and with a little elbowgrease the stains came out and it looked brand new! Same thing applied to the white checkerboard sunroof vinyl.