Removing wax from car moldings?

[Nightrider]

Hello all.
I'm sure this has probably been asked a few times but I hope you don't mind me asking again. What is the best product you have found to remove NXT 2.0 car wax from plastic car moldings? My front license plate holder (Yeah...Wisconsin makes us use 2 plates!) in particular has a few areas where I hit it with the wax by mistake. Leaves behind a white residue that you can't get off. The molding along the bottom of the car below the doors is another area I always seem to hit!

I'd appreciate any ideas/products you guys could give me.

Thanks. Jeff

[CieraSL]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

Toothpaste, rubbing alcohol, peanut butter, APC or APC+. Any one of those should fix your problem. I have tried the toothpaste one. Apply some to an old toothbrush, work it into the affected area, then wipe it off. You may find it easier to wash the affected area afterwards. After that you can follow up with Gold Class Trim Detailer or Mother's Back to Black or something of that nature. I followed up with Mother's Back to Black, because I don't have GC Trim Detailer. Hope this helps!

[Eddie6th]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

Mike gave a write up about this and it worked out fine.

"Vegetable Oil"

Found the thread originaly posted by Mike Phillips:

Originally Posted by chargersrt8S/C Sounds funny and weird but peanut butter or peanut oil is one of the easiest ways to remove wax from plastic or vinyl trim. Put some on a rag and scrub and wipe the area and it will look good as new.

The Peanut Butter trick is posted all over the Internet, but in reality, it's not the Peanut Butter, as in the peanut part, but the oil in the peanut butter that does the dissolving. A person could avoid the peanut butter part, the actual peanut portion of peanut butter and just use cooking vegetable oil.

It's the same tip/trick for removing/dissolving chewing gum out of carpet or hair.
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[Solipsist]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

hehehe, I wonder what the first person was thinking when he looked at the trim and thought "I know! peanut butter!!" hahaha, of all things, why would peanut butter spring to mind? hahaha

[Eddie6th]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

hehehe, I wonder what the first person was thinking when he looked at the trim and thought "I know! peanut butter!!" hahaha, of all things, why would peanut butter spring to mind? hahaha

It's a mad,mad,mad world!

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

I just a dressing, any kind has worked for me.

[cardriver]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

Well, now that the original question has been answered, here's a related query:

When do you guys apply dressing to exterior plastics? I find that if I wash a car and apply the dressing afterwards, the dressing surely ends up on the adjacent paint that surrounds the trim.
Do you just dress the trim before you wash and hope that enough dressing remains after the wash?

[MarkH]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

I recently picked up a bottle of M40 and it cut right through the NXT 2.0 residue on my trim. It also took care of some pesky overpsray I've been neglecting to take care of. I bought it as a dressing but was pleasantly surprised to see it cleans well too.

As far as when to apply exterior dressings I do it as a second-to-last step. I always clean glass last! If you are having trouble keeping it to just your trim, go pick up some small foam paint brushes. You can find them just about anywhere. I pick them up at Walmart in the paint section, and they are pretty cheap!

[Eddie6th]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

Well, now that the original question has been answered, here's a related query:

When do you guys apply dressing to exterior plastics? I find that if I wash a car and apply the dressing afterwards, the dressing surely ends up on the adjacent paint that surrounds the trim.
Do you just dress the trim before you wash and hope that enough dressing remains after the wash?

You would typically do this after washing and drying your car.Maybe you are spraying directly onto the surface?
I spray onto the micro,apply,turn the cloth (or use another,then wipe off). If I go over a little onto any surface,I just wipe it off.Shouldn't do anything to the wax or glass.

[cardriver]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

You guys seriously don't get any dressing smudges or smears on the paint that runs alongside the edges of the exterior plastic trim that you're coating?

I mean...Let's say you have a 2'' thick faded black plastic molding that runs 360* around the entire vehicle. Here's a picture:



RED is easy to dress.
The Yellow edges of the trim are difficult to dress without product transfer onto the paint...whether you're using M40 or another cleaner or protectant. The smearing obviously shows up on the paint, which is annoying especially since you've just washed the car.

And I always use a foam app pad to apply dressing to prepped exterior plastic trim, but I still get "overspray" .

[Nightrider]

Re: Removing wax from car moldings?

Toothpaste, rubbing alcohol, peanut butter, APC or APC+. Any one of those should fix your problem. I have tried the toothpaste one. Apply some to an old toothbrush, work it into the affected area, then wipe it off. You may find it easier to wash the affected area afterwards. After that you can follow up with Gold Class Trim Detailer or Mother's Back to Black or something of that nature. I followed up with Mother's Back to Black, because I don't have GC Trim Detailer. Hope this helps!

Ciera, thanks so much for the ideas! Never thought about toothpaste.
I'm gonna give it a try.

Jeff