Motor Home cleaning and restoring black plastics
Manufacturers of motor homes seemed to be rather slow in colour coding their vans compared to normal every day commercial vans. Seems a bit strange, but they do. And when the plastics become tired and start to grey, it makes the appearance of the whole motor home look tired.
Restoring faded black plastic on cars. vans or motor home?
There are several products that can enhance the look of black plastic bumper, but finding the one which isn’t going to need reapplying after one light rain storm or washes off with it’s next wash takes time in discovering. Trial and errors eventually settles the appearance and performance question. Here at Bedford valeting and detailing we have tried many many products, several of which have evolved as technology has moved on through the 25+years we have been cleaning and enhancing surfaces on cars, vans, motor homes and commercial vehicles.
Which products are good or bad at restoring black bumpers & plastics
Pretty much all products can make an improvement on the appearance on your black trim and bumpers, but here’s a very simply guide as to what will work for you.
Water based product
If the bottle states a water based formulation then it may well work ok, but it will wash off quickly as it water based! If the bottle states a solvent based product then like water based product it’s very easy to apply by either spraying on and wiping surfaces or applying wet via a cloth.
Solvent base & Gel products
Solvent product will last longer but it still won’t last that long (month or so) before washing of and may become streaky. Gel based products work reasonably well and a decent retail product available and motorist supplies outlet, is Autoglym bumper and trim dressing. These kind products work quite well and you get plenty of product in a bottle so you can re apply when surfaces start to fade. The down side to bumper gels are that even after wiping excess product of surfaces they still attract dust and dirt, which isn’t good when the good old motor home tend to visit location partial to wind, sand and dusty condition. Re application can also be problematic if surfaces become patchy. The product sometimes cannot penetrate and just builds up upon surfaces, this can especially happen on older surfaces. Without any doubt the best options for durability and finish are coatings. These products are more expensive and come in small bottles, but don’t let that put you off as you need to weigh up all the pro’s and cons. One, the product will have better coverage, two, it will last way longer than other options and lastly it gives the best finish. ‘Dye’ products are another option. such as solution finish which can work, and is quite popular. But for me I don’t find this product to be particularly efficient and is both messy and difficult to apply especially in difficult areas.
So what do we when restoring black trim and bumpers
So here we have it, our product of choice, easy to apply, last years and looks great. Don’t be put off by the small bottle as a small amount goes a long long way. Instafinish Trim Magic
We provide services for cleaning, polishing motor home, caravan, boats, glider trailers and indeed all gel coat surfaces. Our service areas are in and around Bedfordshire, Hunts, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire mainly. However being gel coat polishing specialist we do travel country wide especially when some jobs run into more than a days labour. Please contact here for more details
