Messed up black trim

[Pete L]

So... a lesson learned about taping up your black trim prior to cutting, polishing and sealing/waxing. Do it. I didn't and my black trim was a mess. I tried wiping it, washing it and I even used Mothers Black to black. Still looked terrible. I read a few articles and tried Mothers Black Trim Heavy Duty Cleaner. This is the gel that comes with a scrub brush. VERY EASY to use. The results were better than I expected. Not only did it clean off all the compound and wax, but the surface looks brand new. Quick, easy and looks great. The before photo was after cleaning and using the basic Back To Black.

Before


After

[Pete L]

Not sure why the top image is upside down. It was probably how I was holding my phone.

[SWETM]

The heavy duty cleaner did a great job at cleaning it up. Even if you clean the residue off when you get the trim with polish or a compound or wax on it before it's dries. It's gets the trim clean in some way where you got it on. So you get a mix of clean and dull trim afterwards. Now days when you use a DA you don't get the trim damage that easy. But if you where to use a rotary polisher and a compound you could have damage the trim with the heat and the speed. So you have a permanent damage on it to look at. Some likes to finish the trim first and then tape it up. It's gets easier clean up if some residue would get on it. And some like to do the trim after correction. I leaning to the first step if it's a neglected trim. So I don't get any overspray when cleaning it up on the newly corrected paint.

Great that you where able to clean it up nicely.

/Tony

[Markymapo]

I’m going to try this on my M4. Thanks for the post.

[TTQ B4U]

So... a lesson learned about taping up your black trim prior to cutting, polishing and sealing/waxing. Do it. I didn't and my black trim was a mess. I tried wiping it, washing it and I even used Mothers Black to black. Still looked terrible. I read a few articles and tried Mothers Black Trim Heavy Duty Cleaner. This is the gel that comes with a scrub brush. VERY EASY to use. The results were better than I expected. Not only did it clean off all the compound and wax, but the surface looks brand new. Quick, easy and looks great. The before photo was after cleaning and using the basic Back To Black.

Before


After

Just grab an old microfiber rag and some pure mineral oil from the general / grocery store. It will remove any wax, polish or compound pretty easily.

Based on what my customer is looking for, either a trim coating or simply a sealant like WETS, I do it before I begin the paint correction. Once the product is dried, the likelihood of anything sticking is minimized and the above mineral oil trick works great and doesn't impact the sealant/coating that is laid down. I've not taped off a vehicle for years. As a side note, a good set of canvas tire covers is well worth the $20 they cost.

[Markymapo]

I just used some APC (diluted per manufacturer directions) and it wiped off fairly easily.