I was at Wal-Mart today picking up some things and one of the things I was picking up, for some reason or another, gave me an idea of how to use it for an unintended purpose!

It is one of those KIWI shoe shine sponges...ok, odd, I know.

I looked at it and thought to myself that it was just about the exact width as the black trim around the wheel arches of my MCS.

So when I got home and finished washing the MINI and was ready to detail the trim, I first thoroughly rinsed out the old KIWI sponge to remove any remaining shining 'liquid' from it (this is the old one that I was replacing, not a brand new one), and dried it out.

Next, I added some of my Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer (though I'm sure whatever brand you use would probably work) and went to work! Great ability to control the application and was a breeze to use. Plus, with it being a nice thick sponge, it really conformed to the curves of the trim as well (as you'll see in the last picture attached).

I've always had problems using just a standard wax applicator to apply the trim detailer...always seemed to get some on my paint.

This worked great, so I thought I'd share it with you all in case you've been looking for an alternative application method. Here's a few shots to show you.

 

Pretty darn cool! Nice discovery...thanks for sharing!!

 

KC MCS-that's a GREAT idea!!

im going to have to get me some. i want one for the tires too.
i bought a applicator with 3 pads from Griot's but it's too damn big for
my low profile tires... might work on my baloon tires on the civic (205/55)
but that shoe shine sponge would be perfect.

 

Nice find, thanks for sharing

 

so i found it at Target while i was running some errands.

cool~! i thought, opened it and wanted to get the feel for the sponge...
it's definitely a nice dense foam perfect for saucing... but stupid me i
didn't know they were pre-oiled. dang, i got all this crap on my
hands!!

then I saw the bath towel aisle. hummm...

im going to do some shoes, then wash the oil off and put some
tire sauce.

 

LMAO!

That's funny! Yes, they are pre-oiled (or whatever it is on there!), and they work great for a quick shoe shine. I keep one at the office and one at home, and after today, one with my detailing supplies!

Let me know how it works for you and if you find it's easier to apply and you have more control.

I'm thinking about taking another one and maybe cutting down the sponge to be just about 1/8" wider than the trim around the edge of the roof - I hate trying to apply detailer to that 1" wide 'ribbon' of trim all the way around!

 

I was thinking of getting one of those envelope moistener things for the roof trim... I just haven't found one yet locally. Do you think that would work?
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2....PROD_ID=992133

 

I think that it's a silicone-based compound in there. Be sure to wash well if you ever want to paint your arches...

 

Good thinking! I have to try this.

 

I use tire-shine applicators that look like this, but they don't come in the plastic case. This would be cool to have in your detailing bag in the boot (you do have a detailing bag back there, don't you? ).

 

Doesn't EVERYBODY?

 

does carrying some paper towels, detailer spray, and terry towel count?

 

The detailer spray is acceptable, but if I catch you using the terry towel and/or paper towels, I'll have to back up a tow truck and reposess your MINI under the recently enacted Meguiars-Zaino Act.

 

That's a good find.

My tip for trim detailer getting on the paint is to always do the trim detailing before quick-detailing the paint. That way you can go ahead and get some trim detailer on your paint, then remove it with the QD. Since I always get QD overspray on my windows, they get cleaned last of all.

 

I just use one of the tire detail spray applicators (the ones with the curve cut into them to fit the outside edge of the tire)- I just turn it length-wise. they almost always come 2 to a bag for a few bucks, and they work great- no washing first required!

This is a good alternative, though- thanks for sharing!

 

Something that also works well are the grey foam paint brushes. Great for doing narrow rubber trim.

 

I can vouch for the gray foam brushes- used them all the time on my old car. they come in almost any size imaginable, and have a chisel tip for precision. Just wipe them on a cloth or something first- they hold a surprising ammount of liquid and the excess can squirt out if you're not careful. I just used a paper towel and all was fine.

 

I love my foam paint brushes !

 

I bet the shoe shine itself isn't that bad of a detailer for the minis trim.. :D God knows I've tried everything else!

 

A friend asked me today if I wanted to order anything from Autogeeks to split the shipping, and lo and behold, I ran across this on their site. Just goes to show how often it is that you have a great idea, someone had already thought of it first.

 

^^ damn!!! lol


i need to find more that doesn't have the pre-oiled crap on it.
i did manage to polish up my shoes and wash off the oil on
mine. im drying the sponge right now so that i can
try it out maybe this weekend when i detail my Civic.

 

What do ya know, I guess it's not so 'odd' after all! Too bad I didn't think about it before! Of course, I probably wouldn't have gone to the extent of developing a product out of it and distributing it anyway!

When I looked at the link you had, it shows they're BACK ORDERED!

Using the shoe shine sponge gives me 2 uses for it, shoes then trim! So I guess the price goes down (but at $3 that isn't a big deal).

Oh well, at least now if someone sees me doing it and has some lame comment, I can say 'hey, you know they sell these for this very purpose'!

 

well, here at NAM, it's still your idea KC MCS!

I noticed that there are 2 small holes in the semi-clear cup side
of the applicator. I taped over them with e-tape so that the
sauce don't get all over.

 

Thanks Kenchan, but it's hard to take any credit for something that someone else already came up with.

I just checked mine and I don't have the 2 small holes - that must be a new thing with them. Maybe you could get an off-brand and they might not have the holes?

Still anxious to see how it works out for you!

 

But of course!


For the wheel arches I love the EagleOne tire applicators. (The yellow and black ones in the center.) The curve is perfect.