{"id":17901,"date":"2015-12-10T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/?p=17901"},"modified":"2015-11-30T15:19:47","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T20:19:47","slug":"trim-coating-or-trim-restorer-which-do-i-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/trim-coating-or-trim-restorer-which-do-i-need\/","title":{"rendered":"Trim Coating or Trim Restorer – Which do I need?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How can I make my trim look nice again? \u00a0How many of us have asked or been asked that question at some point. \u00a0Very few\u00a0vehicles have been made within the last 20-30 years that do not have\u00a0some type of black trim on their exterior. \u00a0Over time the trim when\u00a0exposed to the sun will turn from a nice deep dark finish to faded gray appearance as shown below. \u00a0In some cases the trim will begin to degrade becoming chalky, at that point it is almost basically beyond\u00a0repair. \u00a0It is important to keep the trim on your vehicle properly protected with a product that offers UV protection so this does not happen. \u00a0In this example I am using Carpro DLUX Plastic and Wheel Protection<\/a> and Solution Finishing Black Trim Restorer<\/a> as these are the two products I commonly\u00a0use, however there are other options available that will\u00a0work just as well.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

The above picture is a good example of trim that has not been properly maintained and protected. \u00a0Over the years the plastic has faded from black to a grayish color, however it has not reached\u00a0the point of being chalky or powdery yet.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

Before applying any type of coating or trim restorer you will want to thoroughly cleaned the trim. \u00a0I am using a Tuf Shine Scrub-All Sponge<\/a> and the cleaning solution found in the Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer kit.<\/a>\u00a0I simply took the wet sponge and applied a small amount of the cleaning solution to the sponge and scrubbed the area extensively.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

Once you have cleaned the area very well, you will want to make sure you rinse the area before drying the trim. \u00a0You can either just let the area air dry in the sun, or you can use a DI microfiber waffle weave towel <\/a>or a Metro Blaster Sidekick <\/a>which is what I had used. \u00a0You will want to make sure that the trim is fully dried or the product will not properly adhere to the trim which will affect the durability of the product.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

I sectioned off the plastic trim on this bumper with some tape for this demonstration. \u00a0On the left I am going to apply CQuartz DLUX Plastic and Wheel Protection<\/a> and on the right I used Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer. \u00a0In the above picture I have already applied DLUX to the trim and you can see that the color has become quite a bit darker than the side with nothing applied yet. \u00a0Application is quite simple and everything comes in the kit that you can buy from Detailed Image.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

I then proceeded to apply Solution Finish to the right side of the trim. \u00a0This picture shows just how much of a difference the two (2) products really made.<\/p>\n

\"KMG<\/p>\n

Both products did a great job of darkening the faded trim, however as you can tell from the picture Solution Finish is certainly a better choice when your plastic trim is in rough shape and severely faded. \u00a0I recently had a discussion with Chris West, the owner of Solution Finish in which he mentioned that Solution Finish will actually perform better and provide longer protection on trim that has severely faded due to the pores of the trim being more porous, allowing the product to soak into the trim strengthening the\u00a0bond with material. \u00a0Both products offer UV protection that will\u00a0help resist further fading of the trim, however they will need to be reapplied occasionally as these are not lifetime products. \u00a0A trim coating or product such as Carpro DLUX is better suited for new trim or trim in very good condition, and will provide better protection and resistance to the elements. \u00a0A trim\u00a0restorer such as Solution Finish is more intended for older trim that has been neglected and needs color restored to the product and will produce better results as shown in the picture above on this type of trim.<\/p>\n

Buy Products From This Article<\/h2>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can I make my trim look nice again? Kevin George of KMG Detailing answers this question and helps you choose whether you actually need a trim coating or trim restorer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":18664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1151,47,18,38,48],"tags":[1406,1290,1499,1418,1419,1221,336],"class_list":{"0":"post-17901","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-coatings","8":"category-exterior-trim-and-misc","9":"category-product-reviews","10":"category-protection","11":"category-trim-care","12":"tag-carpro-dlux","13":"tag-dlux","14":"tag-faded-trim","15":"tag-kevin-george","16":"tag-kmg-detailing","17":"tag-solution-finish","18":"tag-trim-restoration"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/21019412865_74f589d669_b.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1kPO7-4EJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17901"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18791,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17901\/revisions\/18791"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.detailedimage.com\/Ask-a-Pro\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}