Restoring black trim...

I used Kiwi Express Black Liquid Shoe Polish - it's the stuff you get in the plastic squeesy bottles with the sponge applicator on top! Did mine ages ago now, several washes later, and it's still jet black! It takes several coats to get a decent finish, but unlike many of the car branded blackeners, it doesn't come off on your clothes, hands, or drip when washed.

 

Thanks for that!

Is it worth masking off (with just 1 layer of tape) the paint above and below to stop it spreading to your freshly washed paint??

 

yeh, it would save you having to wipe it all down afterwards, as it's stubborn when dry. I applied one coat, allowed to dry (5minutes) and thought it looked cack, very streaky tbh! Then buffed it, applied another coat, and results were looking good - continued until all the black was uniform throughout. Looks great now!

 

good stuff, better get myself to Clarks!

 

i would only use the heat gun method if the trim was off the car myself.

 

i used the boot polish method on my grey bumpers -there now a shiney waxey grey


i use to use a vynal dressing, looked like snot, but then my dad watered it down, and i cant get hold of any more.

 

Then you clearly used the wrong stuff - the kiwi express shoe stuff leaves it very dark black and not overly shiny. See pic below....

 

kiwi is universally accepted as THE trim restorer

 

Its shoe dye , NOT polish

 

It does however say "Kiwi Express Liquid Shoe Polish" on the bottle, to save any confusion.

 

does it?

oh well all I'm saying is it ain't that sh*t in flat tins

 

yeh mate, defo says "shoe polish", but it's a good point: people could easily end up buying the flat tin crap that'd do their bumpers no good for appearance.

 

so its says polish on the tube then?....i'd been looking for it to say dye on it and had no look in finding it!

 

that's the jobber in the pic! Top stuff

 

Fairly certain I have a tube already! The text is different though...it says "superior shine wax-finish polish"

 

I just use vaseline does the job and its nice and cheap

 

http://www.motorgeek.co.uk/forever-black-bumper-trim-p-234.html

ive dont my bumpers in this stuff...shoe dye wasnt man enough for my rear one..its similar stuff to shoe dye but stonger

 

Looks good Pigbladder, does it come off in your hands though if you use it on door handles - i've done well with the shoe dye on my plastics (which weren't horrendously faded to begin with), but my handles are a bit grey, and i wanted something a bit harder wearing than the shoe dye.

 

seems to be good...mine dont rub off on bumpers at all, i spilled som eon the painted bit and it was a sod to get off after 10 mins

 

This stuff does look like a very good alternative. I would be conserned about doing the side strips on my golf (along where the gti badge is) as its bery thin and very visible if you touch the paintwork.

I take it if I wash the bumpers a few days after applying this, the outcome would be very bad both for bumper and sponge