Faded rubber

The trim on my car is looking every bit of its 21 years. 

Its a soft plastic or hard rubber. Unsure which. Around all rhe Windows. 

I have a can of.sem trim black, but it doesn't list rubber as a use.

What have yall used to bring this stuff back? Interior dye? Sem? Shoe polish?

I think Dupli-Color has a paint just for this. 

Rubber dries out.  It’s over.  

I’ve been to Akron and I work for a rubber distributor.  I know.  

SEM has another product called bumper coater that may be a better choice.

Try some atf. Barring that, once damaged, no going back.

Try shooting some clear spray paint over it.

I accidentally did this on some grayed out old plastic and it looked like unfaded black plastic afterwards.  Still not sure what sorcery was involved.

303 does pretty good to improve the appearance of it.

In hindsight, i should have phrased it better.

I have to restore all the exterior black trim on the car. It is a mixture of rubber, plastic, unknown.

It has fading, overspray, and what looks lije sanding damage.

This is a low dollar, challenge budget daily.

Has to be done without removal or damage to the surrounding fresh paint. Every black piece on the car has some form of damage like these. 

Car is a 1998 neon. 

Heres a picture of the stuff im dealing with. 

Wintergreen oil diluted with alcohol or a very mild solvent. Since you probably can't take the parts off and soak them you'll just have to wipe and reapply a few times. A lot of guys with older motorcycles that have NLA rubber parts have to do this.

How about something simple like this. Stupid cheap and should last plenty long enough to get through the Challenge. 

In reply to Knurled. :

"I accidentally did the thing, it worked, and i don't know what sort of sorcery was involved." 

This might be my favorite way of recommending anything.

Toyman: i had that thought to be honest. But this isn't actually a challenge car at this time. Just challenge budget daily. Thats parked outside at any time irs not being worked on, and is rubbed up against every day. In khaki pants. And light color shirts. Will shoe polish rub off?

Go to the shoe care section of your favorite we have it all store and get a bottle of black “edge dressing”.  I used it on all the black exterior trim on my 2nd-gen Probe GT and it looks great for about 3 months before needing reapply.  I got it off the paint with Meguiars paint cleaner wax, but it’s best to not get it on the paint in the first place.  Bottle cap has cloth applicator ball on it, that you can probably cut narrower for those roof rails. Also, squeeze most of the liquid out of the applicator before applying it.  You’ll get a feel for it in the first couple feet.

I've had good luck with back to black.

I don't know about rubber, but faded and chalky plastic trim can be renewed by heating with a heat gun until it gets a little shiny.

I’ve had success with Penetrol by Flood in the paint department. 

glueguy said:

I’ve had success with Penetrol by Flood in the paint department. 

Penetrol sounds like the title of a medieval midget pr0n.  We must cross yon bridge to reach Ungerell.  But the sorceress warns of bunghole danger lurking beneath the bridge.  Beware the Penetroll!

AngryCorvair said:

Go to the shoe care section of your favorite we have it all store and get a bottle of black “edge dressing”.  I used it on all the black exterior trim on my 2nd-gen Probe GT and it looks great for about 3 months before needing reapply.  I got it off the paint with Meguiars paint cleaner wax, but it’s best to not get it on the paint in the first place.  Bottle cap has cloth applicator ball on it, that you can probably cut narrower for those roof rails. Also, squeeze most of the liquid out of the applicator before applying it.  You’ll get a feel for it in the first couple feet.

Other than taping off, what kind of prep does this method need? Seems like the cheapest and easiest solution so far, and would cover the overspray nicely. With the least risk to fresh paint. 

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

All I ever did was mask with painters tape, then carefully apply the edge dressing.  It’s a really thin liquid, almost like an ink.  IDK how well it will hide overspray because I never used it for that.  Let us know!

I've had good luck with rubber cleaner, the type that is used to clean a tire before you apply the rubber cement to fix a hole.

It removes the oxidized layer and gets you down to fresher rubber.

Not sure how if works on plastic but you can always try it.  

The Reliable

It's a spray cleaner that works wonders.  Spray it on your tires and it goes on clear but drips off dark brown.  It dissolves oxidized rubber.  Safe for anything; paint, aluminum, you name it.  It was originally marketed as RV black streak remover.  RVs with rubber roofs get grey streaks down the sides from the oxidized rubber washing down.

This stuff won't restore the rubber, but whatever oxidized hydrocarbons are on there you can get off first with this stuff.  It will help greatly with getting the junk off before you put anything else on it.

I use it on tires, trim, carpet, degreasing my grill, etc.  Works every bit as well as Purple power or Simple green but you don't have to be careful about paint or aluminum.

This works well but doesn't last forever.

I’d hit it with a heat gun and see if it helps.  If it doesn’t, Stoner’s Trim Shine will improve the appearance.

AngryCorvair said:

glueguy said:

I’ve had success with Penetrol by Flood in the paint department. 

Penetrol sounds like the title of a medieval midget pr0n.  We must cross yon bridge to reach Ungerell.  But the sorceress warns of bunghole danger lurking beneath the bridge.  Beware the Penetroll!

I started giggling and now my waitress is looking at me funny.

In reply to Wally :

If I can make Wally laugh, my work here is done.