Review: BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant Aerosol

[Mike Phillips]

Review: BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant Aerosol



Aerosol delivery system makes dressing anything fast and easy!

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant Aerosol



From the AG Website

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant will restore the dull, faded, and lackluster black plastic trim pieces and tires. Formulated to penetrate deep into the surface for a genuine shine, Trim & Tire Protectant provides a like-new finish for months! The simple spray-on application makes Trim & Tire Protectant perfect for both professional detailers and detailing enthusiasts. Use Trim & Tire Protectant on all exterior trim, tires, and plastic engine components!

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant features:

• Restores faded trim pieces and tires
• Simple spray-on application
• Use on interior and exterior surfaces
• Provides a satin finish

What is it?
It's a dressing for plastic and rubber surfaces that comes in a handy aerosol can to make application to just about any surface super easy. Just spray and wipe. While I'm not actually a huge fan of these types of products the truth is sometimes they are the best option simply because the pressurized aerosol spray delivery system enables you to get the protectant into hard to reach areas. Besides that, I do like aerosol products because simply put.... they are fast and easy!


Engine Compartments
The reality is, with most new cars, if you open the hood most of what you see is plastic and very little actual "engine". In my car detailing classes I teach 2 types of engine detailing;

Cosmetic Engine Detailing - Wiping the engine compartment clean and then applying a dressing - there is no spraying of water by garden hose or pressure washer

Traditional Wet Wash Engine Detailing - spraying degreasers, agitating with brushes and then rinsing with a strong blast of water.

Here's the engine compartment on my co-worker Anna's Chevy Spark.




And 5 simple tools to do a proper cosmetic engine detail.





Step 1: Blow out any loose debris.

Normally you'll find sticks, leaves and pine needles in the engine compartment because many of the parking lots you park your car in have trees planted around the parking lot to drop these kinds of things onto your car and into your engine compartment.





Rats Nest
In an empty space near the driver's side firewall I found what looks to be the start of a rats nest or some other rodent's nest. Lucky for Anna I found this and blew it all out of the engine compartment to hopefully send the rodent a sign - this place is not for you!








Step 2: Wipe engine compartment down with an All-Purpose-Cleaner

Sometimes you can get away with a glass cleaner or a waterless wash but sometimes you need something strong enough to cut through oily grime and that's where a good APC comes in handy.

Here I'm spraying the BLACKFIRE APC directly onto a cotton terrycloth wash cloth.








Next I wipe down everything I can reach by hand...







The rubber gasket that seals the engine compartment never gets cleaned.... except when I do a cosmetic engine detail....














Step 3: Spray BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant onto all the plastic surfaces.
























Optional Step: Agitate intricate design areas with a brush


















Step 4: Wipe off any excess using a clean towel.














Done!



















With practice - you can do a cosmetic engine detail to most cars in about 15 minutes. If you detail cars for money offer this as an upsell or add-on and charge anywhere from $75.00 to $50.00



Review
The BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant makes it real easy to get the protectant into areas that are difficult and sometimes impossible to reach using a traditional liquid and applicator approach. The BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant covers over plastic easily and darkens the appearance to make it look fresh and clean, like it's brand new again. When you wipe off any excess you're left with a dry, non-oily finish that looks crisp. Keeping your engine compartment cleaned and dressed maintains the appearance value of the engine compartment and this can help to maintain the car's value when you trade it in or sell it.



On Autogeek.com

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant

BLACKFIRE APC All-Purpose Cleaner

Metro Blaster SideKick

Famous Detailing Brush

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....


Exterior Trim

Some exterior trim is easy to dress because it's easy to get to and somehow wipe a trim dressing on with some type of simple applicator pad.

BUT sometimes some exterior trim is a real pain in the rear to dress due to the complicated and/or intricate design. Such is the case with a lot of car grills. They usually have some form of rectangular or honeycomb design that you can't easily get an hand applicator into thus you can't dress the trim by hand. That's where an aerosol version of a trim dressing comes in handy.

Here's a great example of trim that's hard to dress the traditional methods of hand-wiping...





BEFORE

Here's how the plastic grill looks after washing the car. It's dull and lifeless. With time, if nothing is done it will oxidize and turn white. Once an intricate design grill like this turns white with oxidization it's pretty much game-over. So my best tip is to start treating your plastic grill trim as soon as you buy your car. If you always "do something" to it.... it will always look new. It's when you neglected exterior plastic trim over time that it goes down hill.







Now this is easy-peasy....

Just spray the BLACKFIRE Trim and Tire Protectant into the grill and do it from a couple of different angles to fully coat all of the plastic.





Here's a half-n-half shot...
The left side has been treated and the right side is how it started out....











Here I've sprayed a little further....





Pretty easy to see the dull plastic portions of the grill that I have not applied the protectant.




Finishing the job....





Technique Tip
Use compressed air to blow the dressing completely throughout the grill area. For this I like to use the Metro-Vac Sidekick.






Technique Tip

To REALLY push the BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant into all the nooks and crannies of a grill I like to use a RaggTopp Haartz Convertible Top Brush.









After treating the grill use a clean, dry microfiber towel to wipe off any excess from surrounding paint.





BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant is the fastest, easiest way to treat and protect plastic grills or any intricate, hard to detail plastic surfaces.




Review
Without investing a ton of time to use a non-aerosol product, I can't think of a faster or easier way to make a plastic grill look sharp and new. If your car's plastic grill looks dull and ugly then get a can of BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant and restore the new-car look in minutes.



On Autogeek.com

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant

RaggTopp Premium Convertible Top Brush

[Mike Phillips]

Continued....

Tire Sidewalls




Tires or more specifically - tires sidewalls with INTRICATE designs like you see in the picture below. It's really hard to apply a tire dressing with a foam sponge or any other type of applicator pad and quickly and easily get the dressing into all the intricate raised lines in the sidewall.

The lines you see in the sidewall are a PAIN in the rear to dress. This is where an aerosol tire dressing makes dressing these types of tires fast and easy. But I have a few technique tips I'll share to enable you do really do a great job of dressing this style of tire or any tire.





Rob McCrary and I detailed this classic 2-door Plastic Fantastic a few weeks ago but we never touched the tires. I washed them but never dressed them and the reason I didn't dress them is because at the time I didn't have this new product in the BLACKFIRE line, an aerosol tire and trim protectant.





Tire sidewalls with the raised lines throughout the side of the sidewall are a real pain in the rear to dress with any type of conventional tire dressing and some type of foam or cloth applicator pad.






This is a complicated or intricate tire sidewall....





Getting tire dressing into the recessed portions in-between the raised lines is incredibly time-consuming with a conventional tire dressing.






Dressing this type of tire sidewall is fast and easy with the BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant.







Simply hold the nozzle about 6 to 7 inches away from the sidewall and lay down a uniform layer of protectant.











In less than a minute I have covered the entire outside of the tire with BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant.







Technique Tip
Here's another great use for compressed air and that is to blast the dressing into all the intricate areas with air. For this I'm using the Metro-Vac Sidekick.

The Metro-Vac Sidekick is one of my Top 10 Favorite Tools.








Next wipe off any excess protectant and at the same time, create a satin finish PLUS avoid any sling of excess protectant onto nearby body panels.





Now that looks NICE!





Here you can see I have successfully penetrated ALL the hard to reach areas with protectant for a uniform deep, dark black sheen.





That looks good. It adds the finishing touch to this incredibly cool 1966 Corvette Stingray.















Ready to cruise!





BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant






Review
As you can see, this is a very versatile product for a wide spectrum of surfaces and areas on your car, truck or suv. The aerosol spray makes it super easy to get the protectant into all kinds of hard to reach areas. As long as you have a few clean towels handy to wipe off any excess product you able to apply the protectant and then wipe off any excess from surrounding surfaces then stand back and admire the results. Everyone needs to have a can of this in their car detailing arsenal.



On Autogeek.com

BLACKFIRE Trim & Tire Protectant

Metro Blaster SideKick

[mc2hill]

Thanks Mike!

I have used a similar product from another brand, and it is great for adding a little 'pop' to emblems from older cars (the red & black paint in the crossed flags from the vette you have in the pics, the black paint on Rallye wheel caps, etc.).

[Dr Oldz]

I’m not a fan of aerosol products myself but they are nice to have for certain instances. I see this as a great option for plastic wheel wells also.

Mike can you comment on if this product adds a hydrophobic effect to plastics? If so, it will definitely be a winner. I like the rich non greasy look it provided in the above pics.

[JustJesus]

Now available on yhe Autogeek store

Thanks for the review, Mike. Looks like a good product (no surprise).

Thanks for the tip with the Sidekick. I'll remember that as I have the little guy.

I’m not a fan of aerosol products myself but they are nice to have for certain instances.

I wasn't either until I got my hands on the Blackfire PlexPro. LOVE it. (Review will come shortly)

I see this as a great option for plastic wheel wells also.

Mike can you comment on if this product adds a hydrophobic effect to plastics? If so, it will definitely be a winner. I like the rich non greasy look it provided in the above pics.

Yup, I must agree.

[Mike Phillips]

I’m not a fan of aerosol products myself but they are nice to have for certain instances. I see this as a great option for plastic wheel wells also.

The Lazy Man's Method to Dress Hard to Reach Places

Mike can you comment on if this product adds a hydrophobic effect to plastics?

Sorry Jim, just now found your question and since writing this review - the owner, Anna, former co-worker has retired from Autogeek. I never see the car anymore.

[Mike Phillips]

Shared here, see page 2 of the thread.


Detailing Tips for Honeycomb Grills ?