plastic door molding, polish?

[prow]

hello, i am getting ready to do my frist detail. i have most everything taped up including the plastic door molding which continues through the bumpers. anyway i wondering do you polish them? i know they get tapped up but do you just wax them after polishing?? or do you polish them by hand? or polish with DA after? not sure, does anyone know?

[prow]

anyone??
how do you guys polilsh your side painted moldings?

[ShaunD]

Anything that is painted/clear coated like the rest of the vehicle's body can be treated with the same products/chemicals. As far as a using a machine polisher to polish the moldings/trim, if you have small enough pads (4 inches or smaller) you can use them on narrow areas like pillars and painted trim/molding. Just be careful polishing on ANY curved areas/edges wether it be body lines/curves or trim/molding, for with too aggressive a polish/compound or pad you can cut through the clear if not carefully or any compounding or sanding has previously been done in those areas. The safest way about it is to stick with hand polishing these areas. What machine(s) are you using? Rotary or DA? And what type of vehicle are you detailing?

[Kristopher1129]

I typically polish them by hand after I machine polish the panels.

My reasoning for that is because in most cases these moldings are either painted rubber, or plastic and burn easily. Also, they tend to be thin and curvy. You'll end up dealing with a lot of edges that are hard to avoid. I prefer to just play it safe and avoid the heat generated by a polisher. For me, a rotary is out of the question for these moldings...but a DA and some small pads like Shaun mentioned is your safest bet if you do machine polish at all. Doing it by hand works just fine IMO.

[prow]

sweet thanks guys. by hand it is.

[prow]

i am using griots DA 6" with 5" back plate and LC CCS 5.5" pads orange/white/gray, menzerna IP, FF and glaze. WG 3.0 sealant next day top it with Collinite #845 wax. its a 90' jetta..claying took all day and 1+ bars...nasty dirty. its silver.