Make my faded stuff black again

Has anyone found a product that will make all the plastic bits that have faded to a whitish grey, black again and stay that way for more than 20 minutes?

I'm talking about the factory dash switches, the antenna mount on the passenger fender, the piece that the rear wiper shaft passes through on the tailgate, etc.

I've tried the usual suspects, Armorall, Tire Wet, and Mothers Back to Black. The mothers stuff lasted the longest but it was only a day before everything looked grey again. I could paint the stuff but I don't want to paint the switches, I figure it'll wear off with use and probably look worse. Buying new pieces would be an option, but I doubt any of those parts are still available new. (I haven't looked into that yet)

For the switches I would love to replace them with Contura's, but I haven't seen switch configurations that would replicate the function of the rear defrost switch and the rear wiper switch.

What have you guys done to remedy this totally un-important yet totally annoying problem?

A lot of vinyl and even plastic can be "brought back" with, believe it or not, rubbing in some Permatex mechanic's hand cleaner with lanolin on a hot day, letting it soak in, and buffing it off with a terry cloth towel. Seriously.

I don't know if it will work on the really hard plastic though. Definitely works miracles on soft vinyl. Also if your stuff is dirty, scrub it with a soft toothbrush before you buff off, dirt will come right off.

Eastwood plastic resurfacer, it's got good ratings but dunno, haven't ever had to use it. Also that's gonna involve a lot of work to apply properly for what your looking to use it on.
I can say that for armor and bumpers and the likes their chassis black over the epoxy primer they recommend is a far better choice than anything else. It is pricey and time consuming to apply.

N8N_99xj said:

A lot of vinyl and even plastic can be "brought back" with, believe it or not, rubbing in some Permatex mechanic's hand cleaner with lanolin on a hot day, letting it soak in, and buffing it off with a terry cloth towel. Seriously.

I don't know if it will work on the really hard plastic though. Definitely works miracles on soft vinyl. Also if your stuff is dirty, scrub it with a soft toothbrush before you buff off, dirt will come right off.

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Interesting. It's still pretty chilly here in NY, if I don't find something between now and when it gets hot out I'll definitely give that a shot! Thanks for the tip!:clap:

Transpoquick said:

Eastwood plastic resurfacer, it's got good ratings but dunno, haven't ever had to use it. Also that's gonna involve a lot of work to apply properly for what your looking to use it on.
I can say that for armor and bumpers and the likes their chassis black over the epoxy primer they recommend is a far better choice than anything else. It is pricey and time consuming to apply.

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Eastwood! I forgot about them... On my way to go have a look now!

They got good stuff, the customer service is so,so.

Pull the plastics pieces off and run a torch over them burns off the oxidation. A good heat gun will do the same thing. Just don't get to close or you'll melt the texture off the plastics.

5-Speed XJ said:

Pull the plastics pieces off and run a torch over them burns off the oxidation. A good heat gun will do the same thing. Just don't get to close or you'll melt the texture off the plastics.

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Thats a good idea! I used to do that for creased ATV plastics all the time when I worked for Yamaha. I should've thought of that....:wierd:

LJRockstar said:

Thats a good idea! I used to do that for creased ATV plastics all the time when I worked for Yamaha. I should've thought of that....:wierd:

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Just be careful if you go this route. Tried it on my door moldings, and while it took off the oxidation, when it came back, it came back in streak patterns
from the heat gun that weren't obvious when I was doing it. Opted to paint and/or replace the second time around.

For exterior molding, spray paint is the way to go. The flares look like shit on my '99 but I painted the rear bumper plastic when I had them off to install a trailer hitch (had to replace original nutstrips, I installed it in ~2006ish) it still looks great.

Linseed oil.. lasts longer than anything i'v read on the subject.. no I haven't tried it.

MAKE MY BLACK STUFF GREAT AGAIN!

I too have heard linseed oil mixed with paint thinner 50/50 works really well.

I have not tried it... But I see some people swear by it.


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N8N_99xj said:

For exterior molding, spray paint is the way to go. The flares look like shit on my '99 but I painted the rear bumper plastic when I had them off to install a trailer hitch (had to replace original nutstrips, I installed it in ~2006ish) it still looks great.

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I tried all the 'tricks' to get the bumper caps and side molding to look and stay black and they all failed.
Finally cleaned and lightly sanded them and used Rustoleum black trim and bumper paint.
https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-251574-11-Ounce-Bumper/dp/B005H5P5C6
It has held up great on the moldings. Where the bumpers have chipped, it's easy to touch up.

Well I have enough parts to try all these things haha. I'll take a set of "before" photos and try to remember to record the results when I get to all the different parts. This could be neat!

There's also a paint called Krylon "Fusion" that comes in
satin black and is for painting plastics. I used it on a black
plastic bumper a few years ago that still looks good.