Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer

[Stutopia]

I found a sample tube of Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer in an old waxybox and decided to have a go at the expanse of "black" plastic that sits under the windscreen on the BRZ. There's also a plastic diffuser which could do with freshening up, but I'm only trying this area initially. As you can see below, it's gone that nasty grey (it's a 2013, so it's not like it's seen that much sun).

 

 

Sadly I dropped and spilt the sample tube after only a few inches of work, but it was going fine up to then, so I ordered some from cleanyourcar to do things properly.

 

 

£14.95 for a small bottle, not exactly cheap. Also a cacophony of awful fonts and styles on the bottle and packaging. It's like a 90s website.

 

First up I cleaned the trim and wiped down with Gyeon Prep. The instructions make this stuff sound pretty potent, it warns it will stain paint if you're not careful and the usual stuff about not drinking it or pouring it in your eyeballs etc. I did catch the paint once or twice, it wiped off fine with a MF towel after sitting for a few seconds.

 

 

This doesn't appear to be a "restorer" in the sense that it magically removes the ageing of the plastic to make it look like it did as new. It's a bit less subtle than that, it effectively dyes the trim black again. You can see its as black as a gorilla's ghoulies.

 

Application is simple. Get an applicator you don't mind only being for use with this product, tip a little on, work the trim area. It says that it should then be left for 1-2 minutes before wiping off. For some reason I was expecting this to flash quite quickly. The sun had been on my trim before I moved into the shade to do the job, but it just seems to linger indefinitely (certainly 5 minutes anyway). It showed no signs of drying fast and being a bugger to remove. Perhaps, being yank, it is engineered for hotter air temps, it was only about 12 degrees today.

 

 

You can see it looks quite thick and greasy when it goes on. Don't worry it's better after wipe down.

 

I don't know if I should have, but I also applied to the wiper arms. Mainly because they were always going to get some on, so it may as well be a full coat instead of patches.

 

Removal was easy, grab an MF towel (though it suggests using another applicator) and wipe up the excess. There will be plenty if you go at it excessively like I did. The finish is not sticky or shiny, just a nice dark black satin.

 

 

Given the price, I should point out that this stuff goes a long way, I overshot on my first pad load and it was enough to do the whole trim panel and wiper arms once. If you've got a car with huge sections of plastic trim over the arches and bumpers, I'd say you'll get 2 and a bit cars of use from one pot. For me (assuming this doesn't section doesn't look horrible tomorrow) I'll add it to the rear diffuser also and I expect to get 4-5 cars worth out of a pot.

 

Much better looking now it's been done.

 

 

it didn't mention layers when I checked the instructions, so I did two, mainly to ensure coverage but also because it goes a very long way and I wanted to use what was still on the pad.

 

A doodle to use, so long as your careful and have a MF towel on standby, the towel won't be good for anything other than wheel or engine bay jobs after it's had this stuff on, it stains. Really pleased with the immediate results and ease of use, as with anything like this though the proof is in the longevity. I'll keep an eye on it and post up. I wonder if it beads...

[coldel]

Will keep an eye on this, the 22 year old plastics on my car (same position actually) could do with some recovery!

[RobPhoboS]

Likewise, I'll keep an eye on this too and see how it looks after some time, cheers for popping it up

[Willsy1980]

Will give this a whirl on the mrs's Ka (daily beater )

[ed divine]

Nice work, love solution finish. It's not something I have to use all of the time but is a life saver for heavily faded trim as dressing over that just creates a temporary sheen.

[Cray Z]

As we are now a month on from when you first did this, how is it looking?

[Stutopia]

As we are now a month on from when you first did this, how is it looking?

 

I'll nip out and get a photo shortly.

[LRF4N]

Nice result

 

I use tyre gel on fading plastic with a cloth and it works great. Better than it does on my tyres

[Stutopia]

As we are now a month on from when you first did this, how is it looking?

 

Here you go, photo is slightly darker than the naked eye, but still in good shape.

 

[Stutopia]

Looks like this might be a quarterly/tri-annual job, starting to look a little tired, but it is in direct sunshine which is particularly harsh, in shade it is still black.

 

[HEADPHONES]

Thanks for the in depth review.

I have a car that had a plastic bumper repair about 5 years ago.

It was filled and painted with textured paint very well, but has now faded terribly.

You've convinced me that this is THE PRODUCT for the job