Review: Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner

[4u2nvinmtl]

Review: Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner

Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner (Autopia store link)
Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner (Autogeek store link)





Price: $24.99 for 16 oz.

Details:

The Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner was generously given to me by PBMG via a pre-SEMA online giveaway on the condition of an honest review. This couldn’t have come at a better time as I’ve been looking for something to clean and protect my trim in one step after another product left less a than desirable white reside. In the past I’ve painstakingly cleaned the trim with small firm toothbrushes and plastic razor blades and really didn’t want to go that route again (very time consuming). The weather (rainy and 35-40f) and other priorities have prevented me from being able to apply a trim coating so this product really fit the bill perfectly in all aspects of the products description.


Review:

As usual I started with a full detail and visually inspected the all the plastic trim and rubber weather seals. All of the trim had a lot of residue from the previous trim product and there was some wax in the grill and around the antenna. I figured I’d test this product out on the rear step first as that is the main problem area for any trim protectant. I cracked the bottle of Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner open and noticed the liquid was white in color and has a very pleasant coconut smell. The spray gun head has a really nice spray trigger feel (long precise travel) coupled with stream setting and spray setting on the sprayer tip.



Trim before:




I sprayed a healthy amount of product on the bumper as I needed it to clean and then condition. I stopped to take pictures mid application.





This is the trim just after a generous application and vigorous scrubbing using a microfiber towel saturated with product to ensure the trim was being cleaned.



After 5 minutes of letting the Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner air dry the white residue came back! I figured I would try an even heavier application directly on the problem areas and let it just sit.

















After letting it soak for about 5 minutes, I spread and buffed it again. I let it sit another 15mins or so while I did my interior. There was slightly less residue, but it was still clearly visible.









After about 1 hour, the plastic started to get un-uniform in appearance in the area’s I had let the Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner soak.













Tried a third time and got the same results again…


Conclusion:

Clearly Pinnacle Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Conditioner didn’t perform as I had hoped, and unfortunately, I wouldn’t recommend it to others who are in a similar situation (that need to clean and condition trim in one step). It did restore some of the trims appearance but as seen in my pictures above it quickly faded except in the areas I let the product soak heavily. I’ve never had an issue with my trim until I switched to water based products so I’m going back to oil based dressings or a coating.

Regardless, I’d like to thank PBMC for the opportunity to review this product!


P.S. Yes I see the dirt in the corner of the paint near the trim... It's normally behind the trunk hatch and just I hadn't gotten around to using a brush there yet (took care of it) OCD crisis averted

[AC in OC]

While it did improve your trim piece there, I think it may be better suited for interior surfaces like the dash and door panels, etc. The textured plastic trim you were working with would likely see a marked improvement if you used a product like CQuartz DLux.

Thank you for the nice review none-the-less.

[Angus]

Interesting. You'll have to update this tread once it's been rained on a few times/ how it holds up.

[4u2nvinmtl]

While it did improve your trim piece there, I think it may be better suited for interior surfaces like the dash and door panels, etc. The textured plastic trim you were working with would likely see a marked improvement if you used a product like CQuartz DLux.

Thank you for the nice review none-the-less.

Yeah, I agree with you 100%. In fact, I have some DLux I haven't opened yet. I've just waiting for the right day. Just have to clean all the trim well enough for a coating, and well above freezing temperatures


After past experiences with water based rubber/plastic products, I rather not try them on my interior. I really like my interior combo of Meg's Qik Interior and 303 Protectant (looks perfect no issues) and under the hood I use Sonus Motor Koat. I love so far, still testing durability before I do a full review...

[rlmccarty2000]

I bought some to try. 303 Protectant has been around for a long time and is hard to beat. I was hoping to drop the APC step, but it looks like I will be staying with the APC then 303 route for rubber and plastic.

[4u2nvinmtl]

Interesting. You'll have to update this tread once it's been rained on a few times/ how it holds up.

Sorry to disappoint but I don't think there will be much of a durability update for this on my exterior trim. It started to fade away as it dried, and the previous product (PERL) is still there causing a problem. I was exclusively interested in using "Pinnacle Vinyl&Rubber Cleaner&Conditioner" as a trim cleaner/conditioner in my problematic areas that only needed cleaning and reconditioning. Regrettably it didn't meet my needs in either department.

It may be useful for other areas, such as; rubber weather stripping, interior plastics, and the engine bay, which I didn't include in my review because I have other products covering those specific areas and are working very well. I'll be sure to provide more reviews of the products I find that work and last.

I've put the product up for trade to pass it on.

[4u2nvinmtl]

I bought some to try. 303 Protectant has been around for a long time and is hard to beat. I was hoping to drop the APC step, but it looks like I will be staying with the APC then 303 route for rubber and plastic.

Yeah, I really don't like using APC as it eats the LSP and is unhealthy without a respirator mask.

I'm going to man up and do a few strong APC treatments on the trim and coat with DLUX (after I try one last trim product I have). I have a lot of complex trims (the grills) and poor weather conditions for a coating (even the garage I work in is only about 38-44f, just on the border of too cold for a coating).

[The Guz]

Thanks for the review. I thought this product was for interior use only?

[SYMAWD]

Thanks for the review. I thought this product was for interior use only?

It is, but I personally didn't like there. It's an extremely mild cleaner and just an okay dressing.

[4u2nvinmtl]

Thanks for the review. I thought this product was for interior use only?

My mistake. I assumed the plastics on the outside were the same as the inside. I'll retest in a more appropriate area like the inside trunk plastics that could use some cleaning and dressing. Thanks for pointing this out.