Some Simple Green and a old tooth brush seems to do the trick.

 

It looks like it doesn't need to be peanut oil. I did my dad's car yesterday and it had nasty, white wax marks (Meguire's) on the honeycomb trim, as well as on many of the panel seams, from a supposedly professional detailing job from several years ago. I didn't have any peanut oil, so I pondered between canola and olive. Went with the canola with a worn out toothbrush and followed up with a Dawn wash and it worked great.

 

Spring is here...and this weekend I finally began the test I've been waiting to do all winter. I'm so tired of going from product to product for this and I'm unhappy with most. So I gathered up ALL my potential wheel molding trim products and put them next to each other:
Included are common things discussed here such as 303 Aerospace Protectant and Planter's Peanut Oil, some new products, and a couple other things I thought of at the last minute.

My goal here is not for the best day-of look, but how it looks two weeks down the line, how they withstand rain and washing, and which lasts the longest. So check back on my site for the results in a few weeks! (OK, I will post it here too...)

 

Great test procedure. I look forward to seeing how your results compare to mine.

Not everybody is as crazy enough as us to run around with striped trim!

 

Thanks for your efforts. It will be interesting to see results

 

If you got any Dawn wash on your paint, say good bye to any wax that was applied to paint

 

:D well I DID take the tape off, but it still looks silly. A little rain tonight, and some more this weekend, which is what I really want to see them stand up to.

At the moment, after two days, ArmorAll looks like nothing (well it looked like that a minute after I applied it), Sonus motor kote 2nd worst, and surprisingly my previous product that I thought was the best AtoGlym 3rd worst! The others are still glossy (nothing but sunny days so far), and the peanut oil has a bunch of dirt stuck to it, not surprisingly.

 

I don't see Vinylex as part of your test. That's the protectant I use in both of my MINIs.

 

JWARDELL....great idea!...finally the answer we've been waiting for....I used olive oil to remove the white residue and now use Vinylex after every other wash

what are the products/hhousehld items that are included in your test?

 

Perfect timing to see this thread I was very careful when I wax Pearl this weekend and those few white streaks have been driving me nuts.

 

It is in there. Stay tuned.

 

Cool!

 

I should have results posted with photos in a few days, but it isn't looking good. Almost everything washed away with a day of rain. That is pathetic.
So I will be performing the test again with new products, if anyone can think of any that specifically resist rain. Apparently everything but the peanut oil is water based! :(

 

Jwardell...the fact that it rained....that should make the test even better, to be able to see which treatment holds up the best in real life conditions

 

Right...I wanted it to rain...but my point is...nothing held up :(

 

so I posted the results:
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/2006/04/29/the-trim-test/

And the results are terrible. The only think that held up through the rain was the Peanut Oil.

I'll be spending the next few days researching some better products. Recommendations I've found elsewhere are Poorboys Trim Restorer, Meguiars #38, Black Again and Forever Black. Any experience with these?

Another wash this weekend and the trim stands out from the black paint, it looks almost white. I need to do something very soon that will work.

 

I tried a few things and the "Back to Black" seems to work well for me.
Tthey specifically say that it takes the wax off the molding and to be careful NOT to get it on the paint ( waxed parts cause it'll take it OFF )!

 

the first thing I used to get the dreaded white residue off was olive oil since it is thinner and less sticky than peanut oil and wiped/buffed it off after as best I could with a dry towel....that kept the plastic nice and black for a few weeks. But then I thought maybe a product specifically meant for plastic would be better so I tried Back-to-Black which worked only for a week.

Now I use the Vinylex as the general consensus was that it was recommended..seems to work for 2-3 weeks depending, but still there are a couple areas, right in front of the rear wheels where the plastic looks dry and rough and dried out after a few days, like it needs multiple applications to soak in

 

All of them!

Black Again is a gel dressing that rejuvinates and blackens trim. It's fairly glossy.

The Forever Black kit has a prep cleaner and is a dye. It works on the worst situations.

Back to Black, from Mothers, is similar to Black Again.

#38 is also a gel.

Poorboys reminds me of Black Again.

 

The Sonus and Autoglym were gels too.
Just because there's less water in the solution doesn't mean it will work better.

I will try some of those in a week or two and of course keep the thread updated.

 

but try olive oil too!!!!

 

I can't believe that nobody here knows about Wurth Rubber Care...

Takes that white crap off with absolutely no effort - spray it on, wipe it off, and the mess is gone. My brother in law turned me on to the stuff - he managed a large chain of body shops.

I get it at my local auto paint supply place. I've never seen it in a retail store..

http://www.wurthusa.com/project/en/l.../chemical.html

Mike

 

got a link for a distributor to buy this stuff from?

 

I've never seen it anywhere but at the local body shop supply. I would just look in the phone book under body shop supplies or auto paint.

Before I found out about this stuff, I was out there with a toothbrush too - but not any more - it just melts the wax away. I couldn't believe it the first time I used it...

Mike

 

I like the Wurth Rubber Care as a protectant, but never used it to try to purposely remove wax residue.

Here are a few places to get it. I am not recommending any of them, personally.

One

Two

Three

Four

Five