I am noticing scuffs and casual wax smears on my black fender trim and sideskirts.

What does everyone use here?
meguiars black again?
Mothers back to black?

 

I use Armor All. Most of the guys here use Detailer.

 

I was using the 303 stuff, but ordered some of the Zaino product for the tires and it looks great on the trim.

 

Creamy peanut butter. I was skeptical and tried some of the car care products designed to keep black plastic trim black, but so far nothing has compared to a little bit of creamy PB.

-Keith

 

Mother's Back To Black. Good stuff. Maybe even as good as peanut butter!

 

I did two things: 1) started using Meguiar's Gold Class wax, which doesn't leave residue on the trim, and 2) started using Vinylex (sp) on the trim occasionally to give it that nice new look.

 

Peanut butter is good. Cheaper than the detailing stuff if you buy the giant economy size from the warehouse stores!

 

Strawberry jelly

 

I use Eagle Ice on the entire car, rubber, plastic, headlights and paint. This stuff works great and removes the white residue from previous waxings.

 

I use Turtle Wax Ice and am very happy with it!!

 

I Use The New Turtle Wax Ice, It Is A Great Product For All The Black Trim On The Mini.

 

I did my first wax jobs ever this past weekend using the gold class. I sprayed onto an application mit to avoid overspray. At times I was sloppy and got it on the trim and chrome, but it instantly wiped off w/ no residue.

I was on such a high from doing well on my mini, that I even did the wifey's SUV!

WOW.. waxing was a lot easier than I thought, just time consuming, but ah yes, it is a labor of love; plus I must have sweated off ten pounds.

I Armor-All'd the trim with nice results.

 

I've started using Griots products. They've got a Vinyl & Rubber Dressing you can use on the trim, tires, anything else that's vinyl or rubber; helps to keep it shiny and protected. They also have Bumper and Trim Reconditioner that will add black back -- it's like a black dye with a foam applicator.

 

Just tried Mother's Back to Black and I love it, Makes the vinyl look new again and not shiny

 

I use 1) Klasse products....no white residue ever and 2) ready for this?.....1Z Tiefenphleger (vinyl/rubber care). Honest, it's darn good, but can be hard to find. I also use their plastic cleaner on trim....amazing stuff.

 

I use Mothers Back to Black, but I may switch over to Meguiars since I use that brand for all my other car care, i.e. wash, wax, clay.

 

Anyone try the Mini-branded detailing products???

 

Back to Black looks good when applied, but the wax and scuff marks will come back in a month or two.

Peanut oil, by contrast, is forever. It may make things look too shiny for a bit, but that is curable, and does not last long in any event.

 

That is true about the Mothers product Black to Black.

You can not go wrong with any Griot's products, they are not cheap.....but you get what you pay for! And if you do not like the product you can send it back, they stand behind it.

 

I'd avoid Armor All... I've had dashboards crack when using that stuff, plus it's really... "wet" looking.

Octaneguy (one of the local gurus) seems to swear by Meguiar's Hyper Dressing. And I used the Griot's plastic dressing this weekend and it made the trim look FANTASTIC! Lustrous and deep black without looking too "greasy" or "wet". I wonder how it will hold up, though...

I know there used to be a thread on here where someone literally taped off segments of their trim and used like every dressing out there... As I recall the Back to Black didn't hold up very well and some of the things he tried actually turned WHITE (gah!) after a few days of harsh weather... I'll look for it when I get back from my son's swim class unless someone has a link to it...

 

I've used Back to Black with good results. I first removed some residual white wax residue with PB and then applied a liberal coating of Back to Black. The shine has held up well for over a month and through numerous hand washings.

This weekend I'm doing a full wax job with NXT for the first time - got to look extra sharp for the Monterey Historics in two weeks!

 

Jumping in here late...I've done several side-by-side comparisons of products and so far NONE are good. They usually last just a few days. A day or two of rain washes them ALL off. I'm on my "last chance" product out of nearly 20 now, and when I complete all the testing I will be posting a report. Here's my first one:
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/2006/04/29/the-trim-test/

 

I agree with you. I am not a Armor All fan at all.

 

Mcguiars black detail dressing is great on the exterior black trim after a go over with peanut butter to remove any excess wax. The only downside is that rain really does seem to remove the stuff too easily.

 

Detailing nuts will freak out, but the longest lasting treatment I have used is a very light coating of used motor oil. If you are picky, you can go with new motor oil.

I have a truck with a matte finish black bonnet that I treat this way and it works great.