Here's a tip from a Land Rover guy to a Jeep guy. . .

For my black plastic wheel arch trim on my Defender 90, I keep it looking black and new with used motor oil. Use a rag to coat the trim with a nice wet coat of oil, come back and wipe it off the next day. It will look great for a LONG time.

 

I bet it works well but what happens when you brush up against it with some nice clothes on? I'm still thinking Forever Black & a top coat protectant like Aerospace 303 for the uv and your good to go with no worries.

 

Once the oil has time to soak in and is rubbed off, I've never noticed any residue coming off on me.

 

It's got to be used motor oil?

 

dino or synthetic?

 

In my experience rain will wash off Back To Black in a week or two. I have a Chevy Trailblazer with what GM calls "argent" trim, aka gray plastic. I use ICE on my Mini, so today I ICED all the argent on my Chevy. It works like a champ!

 

Because Back to Black and the others DO get he trim back to black again. It's like wetting a rock, when its wet it looks much darker and more colorful. The problem is when it dries, it goes back to looking like a boring rock. The protectants DO protect from UV. But none of them say just how long they last. The turn it black and protect from UV until they are rinsed away by rain or a wash. "Back to Black for a Few Days" is a more accurate name.

And I'm not picking on B2B specifically, see my web site to see how most others performed the same. And in the first photos you see they all do make the trim look nice and black.

 

Josh, are you really taping your paint in those pictures? That's OK to do? Looks scary, but I can't figure out how else to protect the paint while using the Griot's or Forever Black. Do you have to do anything special after removing the tape? Does it take off any wax?

 

No, you posted that Back to Black is crap. Which it is not, it is a good product -- but it is a protectant. Just like in your earlier post, you suggested Forever Black for bringing back the color, then using 303 to help protect from future UV and other contaminants; which I agree with. You could then protect from UV with the Back to Black product as well as many other protectants out there.

I was just reiterating your point that Forever Black and Back to Black are not similar products.

Relax man, it's all good.

 

It is painter's tape and is made to be stuck to paint that isn't even fully cured, and not remove it or leave behind residue. Have a look through the threads here and you'll find many using it, also during waxing to keep wax off the moldings.

 

So what if you don't have used oil laying around?

Oh ya...its a 90...

so did you just wipe some oil off the floor, or did you have to reach under to the rear main to get the oil?

 

I remembered seeing a dye product that came in multiple colors, and I just came across it again and remembered your thread looking for a product for grey trim. I wonder if the dye is good enough or you really need the whole $50 kit but I would at least try the $13 dye.

http://www.topoftheline.com/exterior-trim-dye.html
http://www.topoftheline.com/trimmolreski.html

You'll see it comes in Black, White, Light Grey, and Dark Grey.

 

bluebaby- how did the griot's dye work? any updates? any picts?

 

Ack--sorry I fell off the map, kenchan! I have pictures on my husband's camera; will try to get them up here this weekend.

We did the Griot's on Saturday. We got their vinyl cleanser as well as their dye.

At this point, the arches aren't perfect by any means, but it is amazing how much better they look! Very easy to apply, and they really do look black again. It hasn't rained much, so I can't speak to how well the product lasts. We did wash the car shortly after application (just after we finished waiting however long Griot's recommended), and the dye lasted through that with no noticeable degradation.

The one negative is that we did end up with drips and spots. Up close, it definitely looks a bit home-done. However, I still give the product high marks because of how spotted up and awful the trim was before! I wouldn't use this on my MINI, but it's a big improvement for the Jeep. We're happy, but probably not done experimenting.

My husband thought the problem would go away with a bigger applicator--the applicator was only about 1/2 inch square, which he thinks is the cause of the drips. I'm not so sure, but would be willing to try.

On a related note--Josh, I've been looking at other products to keep reasonable-shape trim looking good. Was there any reason you didn't include 1Z in your test?

 

^^ thanks for the info. How about dabbing that dye into a small
yogurt cup or dish and taking a larger foam pad to reapply over?

make fewer passes...

might smooth out the drips and spots?

 

Ooh, good idea! Today it's raining, so it will have to wait--but then I'll be able to tell you how well the dye lasts...

 

Which 1Z product? They are hard to get in general anyway because the company slimmed back its US distribution. I'm worried what I will do when I run out of my bottle of 1Z glass cleaner. :(

 

Is it ok to use forever black after every wash?

It seems like it is the only one that ALSO protects besides household oils that attract icky dust/dirt.

I have a bottle of Griot's vinyl and rubber dressing. I havent used it on exterior parts yet. Too bad jwardell didnt test it out as well. 1-2 rains for all the other products is terrible!

 

Why would you need to? It lasts a while (forever?).

 

it must dry out at some point, eh?

 

That's like saying paint turns invisible once it dries..

 

clearcoat does

not sure where this is going now