Interior Plastic Part Restoration

[glundblad]

Can anyone recomend any product that restores the interior plastic trim (and vinyl for that matter) to it's original condition? For example, Armour All does a great job but it only lasts about 18 minutes (pardon the slight bit of sarcasm :brows: ).

 

I recently aquired a black center console that is a bit oxidized.

 

Thanks

[adam518]

Use interior spray dye. It works great. You should be able to get black at most any auto parts store.

 

Clean the old parts to remove any dirt or previously applied dressings such as Armor All or Sun Of A Gun. I use rubbing alcohol. It cleans well and evaporates fast. Clean it several times to make sure it is perfectly clean and then spray the dye.

 

Similar to painting, 90% of the quality of your results will come back to surface preparation.

[Automan2164]

...I use rubbing alcohol. It cleans well and evaporates fast....

 

I would think that this would potentially dry out and crack a dash or arm rest pad. And dying a factory black piece? Blasphemous. :D

 

I use Turtle Wax interior cleaner, it smells great (Really!) and usually hangs around for awhile. As for a restorer, I did a google search, and came up with a few things, looks like 3M makes a product. Bit expensive, but the 3M name is pretty good, and if it weren't selling, they wouldn't be able to ask a price like they are.

 

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 5489090502

 

Rob

[yellaheep]

I've seen miracles done to interior plastics (non-vinyl like dash pads or arm rests) by using a high-watt hair dryer. Heating it up gets rid of fading and stress marks (white streaks from flexing/bending). Works well to fix scratches/gouges to the plastic too.

 

There's a few vids on youtube about fixing interior plastics using this method.

[ParadiseMJ]

I use diluted ammonia to remove grimy stuff on plastic/vinyl.

 

I use Oxy-Clean on cloth/carpet/seatbelts.

 

I use stuff similar to the 3M product on plastic/vinyl. Lasts, looks good. I like the heat idea too.

[Thunderbear]

http://king-of-clubs.blogspot.com/

 

That's the site I'm using as a guide for recoloring my 'porno red' interior.

 

SEM color coat vinyl dye and a low luster SEM clearcoat is what he uses, multiple applications of each, of course.

 

posted earlier.

[BEATNGU]

BRAND - RED LION

NAME - INSTA CLEAN

 

I HAVE USED THIS ON SEVERAL RESTORATIONS, INCLUDING THOSE NOS NON PURCHASABLE PARTS AND PIECES....

IT WORKS WONDERS ON ALL THOSE AIR DUCTS AND SCUFF PLATES AND ANY PLASTIC PIECES, SUCH AS CONSOLES AND DASH PARTS....!!!

[JeepcoMJ]

heat gun properly applied does wonders that nothing else can. It pulls the color back up out of the plastic

 

Edited for typo

[BEATNGU]

heat gun properly applied does wonders that nothing else can. It pulls the color back up out of the plastic

 

Edited for typo

 

yes it does... i thought he meant clean them up.... sorry dude.! :smart: i just got skooled.... :dunce:

[NHMJXJ]

A guy at Pep Boys suggested keeping it simple.  Use baking soda and water.  I made kind of a paste, used a sponge for the large areas and a wire brush on the really soiled areas.  They came out spotless.  Cleaned 24 years off the kick panels and interior vinyl cab parts.  Someone from work had given me "Wipe New", which brought the color and finish back to new.  

 

Baking soda worked better than brake clean, acetone or Wesley's Bleche-White.

 

[NHMJXJ]

Baking soda results ...

 

 

Yucky nooks

 

 

Clean crannys

 

[HOrnbrod]

Yucky nooks to clean crannys. I like it!  :cheers:

[SoCalComanche]

Lately I have been cleaning plastic with a Simple Green and water using a soft toothbrush. Then Appling a Meguiar's product that cleans and has uv protectant for plastic.

I used to use armor all on everything until I started seeing cracking on my tires. After doing some reading the so called experts discouraged the use on tires for this reason.

Good luck cleaning makes a world of a difference. It is somewhat inexpensive just elbow grease and time.