Technical White marks on plastic trim .

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Technical White marks on plastic trim .

Motorcyclist Colin

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My Panda has stood for a while and has developed white marks on the plastic trim. After a thorough clean the marks still showed to some degree and still showed up after a spray with "Back to Black" any ideas how to get rid of these marks
 
Clay block and GENTLE rubbing with appropriate lube. Mold a ball of clay lbock until soft then roll it back and forth. Most polishes cause white staining. Armorall ShielMy neighbour swears by peanut butter! d polish does a good job of restoroing and maintaining the plastic trim and only a very light rub off. Heavy rubbing will ruin the trim as heat builds up and the texture rubs off. A hair dryer may help sweat the plastic and cause it to release 'oil' which helps restore, as per @lunchbeers.
 
My Panda has stood for a while and has developed white marks on the plastic trim. After a thorough clean the marks still showed to some degree and still showed up after a spray with "Back to Black" any ideas how to get rid of these marks
If these are showing flow lines in the plastic moulding this is the cumulative effect of daylight/UV exposure which has gradually exhausted the antioxidants etc in the plastic compound. As @lunchbeers suggests this can be remedied by the judicious application of heat (there are various YouTubes showing this - especially for stadium seating). What this does is migrates more of the antioxidant/pigment package to the surface but the problem will return and probably more quickly.

Of course it may just be polish residue so as others have suggested - some elbow grease and clay or similar!
 
I have found that black pigmented car polish works quite well on the trim, I tried the g techniq stuff a little while ago & for the money it was I was a bit underwhelmed with it
I have and do use this but it is a poor fix because it fades quite quickly. The immediate effect is however excellent. Life span is around a month in my experience. Armorall Shield seems to work the longest. The effect fades but I get 6 moths looking reasonable / good. The ease of application is easy too. It doesnt matter if you get it on lkight coloured paint it polished off. The only reason I dont use it on everything is rain marks can form where it is subject to drainage runoff and these then have to be repolished. On white paint its a nuisance.
 
I have and do use this but it is a poor fix because it fades quite quickly. The immediate effect is however excellent. Life span is around a month in my experience. Armorall Shield seems to work the longest. The effect fades but I get 6 moths looking reasonable / good. The ease of application is easy too. It doesnt matter if you get it on lkight coloured paint it polished off. The only reason I dont use it on everything is rain marks can form where it is subject to drainage runoff and these then have to be repolished. On white paint its a nuisance.
On mine I usually find it being ok for about 2-3 months before needing to be done again but then again when I do the weekly clean I go over the entire car, trim included with my 50/50 mixture of Turtle Wax black spray wax & Sonax BSD & then on top of that at this time of year with the pollen etc I have a 50/50 mix of Megiuars Ultimate detailer & Chemical guys Speed Wipe which is helping to stop the pollen sticking to the paint, good thing is because the cars black & I hand polish it every month I just go over the trim with the black polish whilst doing the rest of the car & it comes back up 👌 makes my life just that little easier 😂😂
 
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All Back to Black and the like do is make things shiny—they're just silicone sprays.

I've always had good results cleaning black trim with Autoglym Bumper & Trim Gel.
I have used this stuff in the past but found whilst it brought it up really good when it rains after applying it & even buffing it off, on black paint it would leave noticeable streaks under the trim on the panel, I don't like the stuff that makes it all shiny & glossy, I much prefer the matt finish look myself, I purchased G Techniq C4 a little while back, whilst it good mine to look semi good the finish didn't last long before fading again, was about 3 weeks, but on my dad's Punto I did the plastic scuttle panel & the first bit of rain it's left permanent white water spots so I wouldn't recommend it & near on £40 down the drain
 
On mine I usually find it being ok for about 2-3 months before needing to be done again but then again when I do the weekly clean I go over the entire car, trim included with my 50/50 mixture of Turtle Wax black spray wax & Sonax BSD & then on top of that at this time of year with the pollen etc I have a 50/50 mix of Megiuars Ultimate detailer & Chemical guys Speed Wipe which is helping to stop the pollen sticking to the paint, good thing is because the cars black & I hand polish it every month I just go over the trim with the black polish whilst doing the rest of the car & it comes back up 👌 makes my life just that little easier 😂😂
With a black car that concoction sounds good. If your using the black polish then doing the plastic as well is entirely logical. I just did my white one with Autoglym Gold sealant On top of my original caramic coat it does a good job, but NOT on black plastic.
 
With a black car that concoction sounds good. If your using the black polish then doing the plastic as well is entirely logical. I just did my white one with Autoglym Gold sealant On top of my original caramic coat it does a good job, but NOT on black plastic.
I've got a few concoctions to keeping the black paint decent using the tried & tested "trial & error" method 😅 & have my own little routine with it
1) hand polish every 4-6 weeks (machine about 2-3 times a year) with Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Black Polish, after polishing I use Soft 99 dark & black wax which in my opinion is the best wax I've come across for dark colours as it doesn't bloom & really makes it shine whilst also being less than £20 a tin
2) clean weekly (twice a week sometimes in spring/summer), if the cars not dirty as such I just snow foam & rinse it off before using my concoction of Turtle Wax black spray wax & Sonax BSD, this time off year in the pollen season I'm putting Chemical Guys speed wipe on it as well which is stopping the pollen from sticking to it, but this stuff on its own seems to leave streaks & will dry as soon as it put on so I've mixed with Meguiars ultimate detailer which puts a stop to that
3) Stand back & admire the shine

The only bit which takes the time is polishing the rest of it is quite quick, the interior just gets done whenever it needs doing as i focus more on the bodywork than anything else, whilst the look of a clean black car is really satisfying would I ever want to own another black car, the answer would most definately be NO 😅
 
Worth mentioning, with our very hard water and a dark car its always a pain in with limescale spots. I also use vinegar neat on plastic trim and it really helps reduce the greying caused by the lime scale. Also put three tablespoons in a bucket of water for rinsing and when leathering. I did Ruby the 2014 Ruby coloured car today and finished with a clay blocking. Just the sills and lower bumpers to do and I can retreat with the autoglym gold. The paint is in gernerally outstanding condition and with no spots! No gripes with Fiat paint generally but above the rear gutter inside the tailgate where there is a problem developing as no top coat made it there! Typical slapdash Italian build. I shall have to get some rust converter / preventer on and then probably a brush will do to add colour. Odd I have not noticed this before. Maybe its just started to become obvious.
 
I had the same issue on the inside edge of my tailgate where the paint finish along that inside edge from factory was a bit poor & a small bit chipped off at some point with a small surface rust spot, it's all good now as I caught it really early on, put rust converter on it & did a few coats of paint using the proper fiat touch up stick i had, that was about 4-5 months ago now & all is still good as I'm keeping a very close eye on it along with the rest of that inner edge
 
I drive a 4x4… it looks better muddy :)

I am thorough about hosing the underside (wet mud and winter salt eats steel faster than PacMan)…. The painted bits (the body!) get washed every couple of months, and rinsed with rainwater from the water butt (connected to the pressure washer) to avoid hard water spots. But that’s all. Still looks nearly as good as when new in 2018. And saves a fortune in ‘potions’ :)
 
You could try this stuff - did work really well on the stone chip protectors on my Cinquecento Sporting.

This is probably the best trim restorer I've used last a long time 6 months + and still haha good finish

Just be careful to avoid wiping any on to the paintwork and so a small section at a time before wiping off it it dries very hard if left to long
 
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