How to COMPLETELY restore your trim ONCE every few years:
I have used various products on vehicle trim over the years. Including paint and many other dressings and conditioners. I was sick of reapplying it. And sick of the tedious process of using paint that will eventually fade too.
So I set out to find the best product and/or method of restoring Jeep trim. That would look the best and last the longest.
I recently did a deep dive on plastic trim restoration. And came upon this auto detailer that did a 1.5 year durability test of 25 different trim restoration products. Left out in the Texas sun, weather and washed weekly.
He even obtained each products MSDS sheet to show exactly what's in it. You will be surprised at how many very popular, name brand products, are filled with nothing more than bullshit - like mineral oil! Which rarely lasts for more than a few days.
He chooses his winners. But to me the very clear winner was Shine Supply Trim Paint. (This product is a dye. And not paint. And the only long lasting one that will wipe off of your paint or glass once dried.)
You be the judge. This is the product after 1.5 yrs in the Texas sun and rain. And being washed weekly:
(He does two tests. One on a grey truck bed panel and one on a black truck bed panel. Ignore the grey panel. It doesn't apply to us. And grey plastic trim is quite obviously impossible to dye.)
I mention "dye" because there are basically two different groups of trim restoration products. Dyes and what I call conditioners or dressings. Conditioners and dressings are Ammoral type treatments that turn to crap after a week or maybe a few months. Dye lasts for years.
You'll be surprised how each of these famous name brand products actually hold up to weather, sun and washing. Most are complete bullshit. A complete waste of money. But mostly a complete waste of time. Who wants to re-treat their trim every few weeks or even every few months?
Other types of restoration are tested as well. Like the heat gun method, kiwi shoe dye etc. All of these are bullshit too. They are splotchy at best. And don't last anywhere as long as dye. I have not seen one successful test of that kind.
And I'm frankly tired of watching demonstration videos that look great right after the process. Without any comparison to other products. Or how each of these fair weeks, months or years after the application. Those videos are a complete waste of time.
There are hundreds of trim restoration test videos on youtube. But none of them compare as many products against each other. Or do real world monthly updates out to a year and a half. As this guy did:
Instructions for this dye are slim. I've used other dyes in the past. And I just used this dye on my 2012 JKU.
HERE'S HOW TO APPLY IT:
The product. It's $34. But probably enough to do three Jeeps. It's a huge bottle and a little goes a long ways:
https://shinesupply.com/products/trim-coat-black
Everything else I used was cheap stuff from Harbor Freight.
Reports on other vehicle types state this might not work on the rubber window trim. But I have not tried that yet. It didn't hurt anything. They just couldn't see any noticeable improvement. But I may give this a try on my Jeep.
(The directions call for two coats dried inbetween. I will probably do two coats as well. But I did my first coat - using two coats. Once with a foam brush and then evened it out with a terry cloth foam pad, with additional dye. One right after the other. While it was still wet. As it's vital to get an even "light" coat.
Some streaking will blend in over time. But I felt like my method below allowed for a more even coat the first time. With no danger of applying to much and causing streaks.
Either method is fine. Just don't add to much product at one time. You can even out streaks while its wet. But once its dry thats harder to do. More below.)
DIRECTIONS:
Simple directions:
Do not apply in direct sunlight. Clean the surface with Dawn, then alcohol. Let dry completely. Apply light even coats with foam brush, terry cloth covered sponge and/or large carwash foam. Whatever will give you a light, smooth, streak free finish. DO NOT DO MORE THAN ONE TRIM PIECE AT A TIME. Let dry 24 to 48 hours before letting it get wet from rain, dew or water.
Detailed directions:
1) Wash and scrub each trim piece with a brush and rag using Dawn dish soap. Dry with a clean microfiber towel. Then let it sit and dry completely. Water will screw this up.
Then use a 1/3rd to 1/5th solution of rubbing alcohol to water, in a spray bottle. Spray down each section and wipe off with a clean microfiber towel. Let dry completely.
This above step is crucial as it removes any wax or other chemicals that might be stuck to the trim.
2) It CAN NOT be applied in direct sunlight. It will dry to fast and streak.
3) This specific product will wipe off of your paint. (Unlike many of the others. BUT THIS IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE. OTHERS ARE VERY HARD TO REMOVE FROM PAINT.)
But tape everything off with green 3M automotive tape. (It's actually quick and easy. The bumpers don't need taping. Just the flares, door handles, side mirros or any other small trim.)
Use a dry or damp microfiber cloth to remove it from your paint. As soon as possible. I did let some dry for about 10-15 minutes. And it wiped off with a dry or slightly damp microfiber cloth. It also wiped off of my foglight lens a day or two after. With just a wet finger. THIS IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE EXTREMELY HARD TO GET OFF PAINT ONCE DRIED.
https://www.harborfreight.com/105-ft-x-094-in-automotive-performance-masking-tape-57533.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/microfiber-cleaning-cloth-12-in-x-12-in-12-pack-63362.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-mil-nitrile-powder-free-gloves-50-pack-large-68505.html
4) Don't try to do the entire cars trim at once. Meaning only do one part at a time. I started - with the spare removed - on the rear bumper. Where any mistakes would be covered. But it's important to lay down basically two coats. One with a foam brush and one with a terry cloth sponge to even it out and remove any streaks. If you move any faster than one part at a time it will dry to much inbetween coats and the immediate second layer with the terry cloth sponge will become a mess.
If you want to do two light coats you can. But the problem I found was trying to get one coat without streaks. The foam sponge brush allows you to get into the top of the flares. And get the dye into the plastics texture. The terry cloth foam pad, with additional dye, gives you a chance to even out any streaks.
5) DON'T PUT TO MUCH ON.
Putting to much on over fills the texture, creates a smooth shiny surface and thus streaking.
Only make long swipes lengthwise. Not across and not in circles. Short back and forth swioes in your first coat, to fill in the texture, lengthwise is fine.
It comes out like thick syrup. Apply enough to a sponge paint brush to get it into the textured surface of the plastic.
After I taped the flares I used the smallest foam brush (one side only) to get into the narrow seam between the flare and the fenders. Then switched to the medium or large sized foam brush for the rest. I may try a large carwash foam next time too. As its wide surface area may even out atreaks easier.
I used these:
https://www.harborfreight.com/foam-brush-kit-9-piece-56965.html
Apply the dye to the brush.
Use the side of the foam brush to spread the dye out. Use the thin tip of the foam brush to even it out and lift any thick parts from the texture.
Do this last step, using just the thin tip of the sponge brush, with a very light pressure and keep the brush at a right angle to the surface. Angling the brush will continue to spread a thicker layer. All you want is a good coat into the texture. This will require multiple wipes with the brush back and forth to get all the way into the texture. Lifting out any excess that causes streaks with the light tip of the brush.
But it won't get completely streak free until the next step:
Before it dries. (Do only one trim part at a time. And do it relatively quickly.) I did this halfway thru the bumpers. And immediately after I had it spread out on each fender:
Use a terry cloth covered sponge. Like the ones you apply stain or wax with. I used these from HF. $4 for 8 of them.
https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-terry-cloth-staining-pads-46166.html
Add more dye to the terry cloth sponge. Wiping it back and forth, in short strokes, in a straight line length wise. To unsure the dye is fully into the texture. Then long, very light swipes, across the surface to lift any thick areas of dye. To stop streaking. And to even out the entire surface. Next time I may try a large carwash sponge. As the larger surface area may help in this second stage to reduce streaking.
*Basically your using the foam brush to cover the surface and get into the nooks and crannies. And the terry cloth pad to even it out and remove any streaks.
So you end up with one even coat that gets into the texture. But not enough that it smooths out over the texture in areas. And causes streaks.
But don't worry. If it looks like shit you can do further coats. BUT NOT IF YOU PUT TO MUCH ON. To much causes the streaking. Because it's to thick of a layer that smooths out the texture. And creates a shiny surfaced streak.
To much dye, once dried, may be harder to deal with. But a wet rag and/or alcohol solution woukd most likely remove the dye if done in the first hour or so. But this would require a complete new coat to cover.
6) DON'T ALLOW ANY DEW OR RAIN TO CONTACT THE SURFACE FOR 24 TO 48 HOURS. AND DON'T TAKE IT THRU A CARWASH FOR AT LEAST THAT AMOUNT OF TIME. BEFORE ITS PROPERLY CURED. THE CORD TYPE CARWASH BRUSHES MAY LEAVE LIGHT MARKS.
If you don't have an enclosed space to do this in - cover each trim piece with loose plastic bags once its dried. Say 30 minutes after application. I used 3M tape to hang trash bags loosely over the trim. Just to keep the dew off.
This is common of all the better dyes. Including Ceracoat and many others. It needs time to set up. I live next to the beach. So fog and dew build up left light runs on my back bumper where the dew water ran down a bit. Its barely noticeable and can only be seen in certain sunlight.
But still, it's not listed in the instructions. I did mine in the evening. As the sunlight was to strong prior. So the dew probably hit it shortly thereafter. If you did this in the morning it probably wouldn't be an issue.
************************************
This sounds like a long detailed process. It really isn't. It's just important to get one even coating. With not to much dye. Hopefully this technique will have your trim looking as good as mine for years to come.
You can do additional coatings. I have one fender that I let dry to long between the foam brush coat and the terry cloth pad. It has some minor streaks. That will probably blend in over time. But its a front fender thats more visible. So I'm going to go over it one more time with the terry cloth pad or a large carwash foam pad.
Many users reported any streaking going away after a few days. And I do have to say most of the tiny imperfections I noticed did disappear by the next day.
This is my Jeep before any treatment. The pic does not show it perfectly. But my fenders were closer to the color of the door handles. Which are trashed from sun.
This is my Jeep finished and in process. Meaning bumpers and fenders. I am still going to do the mirrors, door handles, license plate frame and other small parts.
I'll probably have the hard top and roof rack professionally painted.
A few reviewers did have success on painted metal. I used it on my plastic and painted metal on the upper rear middle tail light. You can barely see it behind the spare. It looks great on the painted metal. But I would do further tests before using it that way.
DOING THE SMALL TRIM:
Today I taped off the license plate, door handles, side mirrors and tail lights. And dyed those.
It goes alot faster if you tear little 1 inch pieces of tape. And stick them on the body next to whatever you're taping. Tiny pieces around circles is the way to go. Again the trick is not to use to much dye. I used the small 1 inch foam brush for all of it.
On the door handles I wrapped a screwdriver with a rubber glove, depressed the button with the tip of the screwdriver completely, then went around the inside with about 2 drops of dye on the end of the small foam brush.
This is again, an exercise of wiping it on with back and forth swipes with the side of the brush and lifting the excess with the tip of the brush.
The last ones I did was the side mirrors. I wanted to test the large carwash sponge. But after taping everything and dyeing. I was to tired to give it a try. Even with the smallest foam brush I think the side mirrors (the largest surface) turned out well. You can barely see some streaks. But from 4 feet away they are all but invisible.
I may go over everything again tomorrow. If it looks like it needs it. As the taping is the majority of the labor. But not the reverse lights. As they turned out fine. And the guards cover them up enough that any imperfections are not visible. Actually they turned out very well.
You can barely see in the above top pic the run lines from the dew on the back bumper. Its very minor. And you can barely see it in the enlarged second pic. But there none the less. So I'm going to leave my car cover in it overnight. To make sure none of the trim I've done today gets any dew lines from water running off it.
I have used various products on vehicle trim over the years. Including paint and many other dressings and conditioners. I was sick of reapplying it. And sick of the tedious process of using paint that will eventually fade too.
So I set out to find the best product and/or method of restoring Jeep trim. That would look the best and last the longest.
I recently did a deep dive on plastic trim restoration. And came upon this auto detailer that did a 1.5 year durability test of 25 different trim restoration products. Left out in the Texas sun, weather and washed weekly.
He even obtained each products MSDS sheet to show exactly what's in it. You will be surprised at how many very popular, name brand products, are filled with nothing more than bullshit - like mineral oil! Which rarely lasts for more than a few days.
He chooses his winners. But to me the very clear winner was Shine Supply Trim Paint. (This product is a dye. And not paint. And the only long lasting one that will wipe off of your paint or glass once dried.)
You be the judge. This is the product after 1.5 yrs in the Texas sun and rain. And being washed weekly:
(He does two tests. One on a grey truck bed panel and one on a black truck bed panel. Ignore the grey panel. It doesn't apply to us. And grey plastic trim is quite obviously impossible to dye.)
I mention "dye" because there are basically two different groups of trim restoration products. Dyes and what I call conditioners or dressings. Conditioners and dressings are Ammoral type treatments that turn to crap after a week or maybe a few months. Dye lasts for years.
You'll be surprised how each of these famous name brand products actually hold up to weather, sun and washing. Most are complete bullshit. A complete waste of money. But mostly a complete waste of time. Who wants to re-treat their trim every few weeks or even every few months?
Other types of restoration are tested as well. Like the heat gun method, kiwi shoe dye etc. All of these are bullshit too. They are splotchy at best. And don't last anywhere as long as dye. I have not seen one successful test of that kind.
And I'm frankly tired of watching demonstration videos that look great right after the process. Without any comparison to other products. Or how each of these fair weeks, months or years after the application. Those videos are a complete waste of time.
There are hundreds of trim restoration test videos on youtube. But none of them compare as many products against each other. Or do real world monthly updates out to a year and a half. As this guy did:
HERE'S HOW TO APPLY IT:
The product. It's $34. But probably enough to do three Jeeps. It's a huge bottle and a little goes a long ways:
https://shinesupply.com/products/trim-coat-black
Everything else I used was cheap stuff from Harbor Freight.
Reports on other vehicle types state this might not work on the rubber window trim. But I have not tried that yet. It didn't hurt anything. They just couldn't see any noticeable improvement. But I may give this a try on my Jeep.
(The directions call for two coats dried inbetween. I will probably do two coats as well. But I did my first coat - using two coats. Once with a foam brush and then evened it out with a terry cloth foam pad, with additional dye. One right after the other. While it was still wet. As it's vital to get an even "light" coat.
Some streaking will blend in over time. But I felt like my method below allowed for a more even coat the first time. With no danger of applying to much and causing streaks.
Either method is fine. Just don't add to much product at one time. You can even out streaks while its wet. But once its dry thats harder to do. More below.)
DIRECTIONS:
Simple directions:
Do not apply in direct sunlight. Clean the surface with Dawn, then alcohol. Let dry completely. Apply light even coats with foam brush, terry cloth covered sponge and/or large carwash foam. Whatever will give you a light, smooth, streak free finish. DO NOT DO MORE THAN ONE TRIM PIECE AT A TIME. Let dry 24 to 48 hours before letting it get wet from rain, dew or water.
Detailed directions:
1) Wash and scrub each trim piece with a brush and rag using Dawn dish soap. Dry with a clean microfiber towel. Then let it sit and dry completely. Water will screw this up.
Then use a 1/3rd to 1/5th solution of rubbing alcohol to water, in a spray bottle. Spray down each section and wipe off with a clean microfiber towel. Let dry completely.
This above step is crucial as it removes any wax or other chemicals that might be stuck to the trim.
2) It CAN NOT be applied in direct sunlight. It will dry to fast and streak.
3) This specific product will wipe off of your paint. (Unlike many of the others. BUT THIS IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE. OTHERS ARE VERY HARD TO REMOVE FROM PAINT.)
But tape everything off with green 3M automotive tape. (It's actually quick and easy. The bumpers don't need taping. Just the flares, door handles, side mirros or any other small trim.)
Use a dry or damp microfiber cloth to remove it from your paint. As soon as possible. I did let some dry for about 10-15 minutes. And it wiped off with a dry or slightly damp microfiber cloth. It also wiped off of my foglight lens a day or two after. With just a wet finger. THIS IS A HUGE ADVANTAGE. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE EXTREMELY HARD TO GET OFF PAINT ONCE DRIED.
https://www.harborfreight.com/105-ft-x-094-in-automotive-performance-masking-tape-57533.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/microfiber-cleaning-cloth-12-in-x-12-in-12-pack-63362.html
https://www.harborfreight.com/7-mil-nitrile-powder-free-gloves-50-pack-large-68505.html
4) Don't try to do the entire cars trim at once. Meaning only do one part at a time. I started - with the spare removed - on the rear bumper. Where any mistakes would be covered. But it's important to lay down basically two coats. One with a foam brush and one with a terry cloth sponge to even it out and remove any streaks. If you move any faster than one part at a time it will dry to much inbetween coats and the immediate second layer with the terry cloth sponge will become a mess.
If you want to do two light coats you can. But the problem I found was trying to get one coat without streaks. The foam sponge brush allows you to get into the top of the flares. And get the dye into the plastics texture. The terry cloth foam pad, with additional dye, gives you a chance to even out any streaks.
5) DON'T PUT TO MUCH ON.
Putting to much on over fills the texture, creates a smooth shiny surface and thus streaking.
Only make long swipes lengthwise. Not across and not in circles. Short back and forth swioes in your first coat, to fill in the texture, lengthwise is fine.
It comes out like thick syrup. Apply enough to a sponge paint brush to get it into the textured surface of the plastic.
After I taped the flares I used the smallest foam brush (one side only) to get into the narrow seam between the flare and the fenders. Then switched to the medium or large sized foam brush for the rest. I may try a large carwash foam next time too. As its wide surface area may even out atreaks easier.
I used these:
https://www.harborfreight.com/foam-brush-kit-9-piece-56965.html
Apply the dye to the brush.
Use the side of the foam brush to spread the dye out. Use the thin tip of the foam brush to even it out and lift any thick parts from the texture.
Do this last step, using just the thin tip of the sponge brush, with a very light pressure and keep the brush at a right angle to the surface. Angling the brush will continue to spread a thicker layer. All you want is a good coat into the texture. This will require multiple wipes with the brush back and forth to get all the way into the texture. Lifting out any excess that causes streaks with the light tip of the brush.
But it won't get completely streak free until the next step:
Before it dries. (Do only one trim part at a time. And do it relatively quickly.) I did this halfway thru the bumpers. And immediately after I had it spread out on each fender:
Use a terry cloth covered sponge. Like the ones you apply stain or wax with. I used these from HF. $4 for 8 of them.
https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-terry-cloth-staining-pads-46166.html
Add more dye to the terry cloth sponge. Wiping it back and forth, in short strokes, in a straight line length wise. To unsure the dye is fully into the texture. Then long, very light swipes, across the surface to lift any thick areas of dye. To stop streaking. And to even out the entire surface. Next time I may try a large carwash sponge. As the larger surface area may help in this second stage to reduce streaking.
*Basically your using the foam brush to cover the surface and get into the nooks and crannies. And the terry cloth pad to even it out and remove any streaks.
So you end up with one even coat that gets into the texture. But not enough that it smooths out over the texture in areas. And causes streaks.
But don't worry. If it looks like shit you can do further coats. BUT NOT IF YOU PUT TO MUCH ON. To much causes the streaking. Because it's to thick of a layer that smooths out the texture. And creates a shiny surfaced streak.
To much dye, once dried, may be harder to deal with. But a wet rag and/or alcohol solution woukd most likely remove the dye if done in the first hour or so. But this would require a complete new coat to cover.
6) DON'T ALLOW ANY DEW OR RAIN TO CONTACT THE SURFACE FOR 24 TO 48 HOURS. AND DON'T TAKE IT THRU A CARWASH FOR AT LEAST THAT AMOUNT OF TIME. BEFORE ITS PROPERLY CURED. THE CORD TYPE CARWASH BRUSHES MAY LEAVE LIGHT MARKS.
If you don't have an enclosed space to do this in - cover each trim piece with loose plastic bags once its dried. Say 30 minutes after application. I used 3M tape to hang trash bags loosely over the trim. Just to keep the dew off.
This is common of all the better dyes. Including Ceracoat and many others. It needs time to set up. I live next to the beach. So fog and dew build up left light runs on my back bumper where the dew water ran down a bit. Its barely noticeable and can only be seen in certain sunlight.
But still, it's not listed in the instructions. I did mine in the evening. As the sunlight was to strong prior. So the dew probably hit it shortly thereafter. If you did this in the morning it probably wouldn't be an issue.
************************************
This sounds like a long detailed process. It really isn't. It's just important to get one even coating. With not to much dye. Hopefully this technique will have your trim looking as good as mine for years to come.
You can do additional coatings. I have one fender that I let dry to long between the foam brush coat and the terry cloth pad. It has some minor streaks. That will probably blend in over time. But its a front fender thats more visible. So I'm going to go over it one more time with the terry cloth pad or a large carwash foam pad.
Many users reported any streaking going away after a few days. And I do have to say most of the tiny imperfections I noticed did disappear by the next day.
This is my Jeep before any treatment. The pic does not show it perfectly. But my fenders were closer to the color of the door handles. Which are trashed from sun.
This is my Jeep finished and in process. Meaning bumpers and fenders. I am still going to do the mirrors, door handles, license plate frame and other small parts.
I'll probably have the hard top and roof rack professionally painted.
A few reviewers did have success on painted metal. I used it on my plastic and painted metal on the upper rear middle tail light. You can barely see it behind the spare. It looks great on the painted metal. But I would do further tests before using it that way.
DOING THE SMALL TRIM:
Today I taped off the license plate, door handles, side mirrors and tail lights. And dyed those.
It goes alot faster if you tear little 1 inch pieces of tape. And stick them on the body next to whatever you're taping. Tiny pieces around circles is the way to go. Again the trick is not to use to much dye. I used the small 1 inch foam brush for all of it.
On the door handles I wrapped a screwdriver with a rubber glove, depressed the button with the tip of the screwdriver completely, then went around the inside with about 2 drops of dye on the end of the small foam brush.
This is again, an exercise of wiping it on with back and forth swipes with the side of the brush and lifting the excess with the tip of the brush.
The last ones I did was the side mirrors. I wanted to test the large carwash sponge. But after taping everything and dyeing. I was to tired to give it a try. Even with the smallest foam brush I think the side mirrors (the largest surface) turned out well. You can barely see some streaks. But from 4 feet away they are all but invisible.
I may go over everything again tomorrow. If it looks like it needs it. As the taping is the majority of the labor. But not the reverse lights. As they turned out fine. And the guards cover them up enough that any imperfections are not visible. Actually they turned out very well.
You can barely see in the above top pic the run lines from the dew on the back bumper. Its very minor. And you can barely see it in the enlarged second pic. But there none the less. So I'm going to leave my car cover in it overnight. To make sure none of the trim I've done today gets any dew lines from water running off it.
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