Removing Dye/paint From Textured Plastic

[GLPoomobile 958]

All my trim has been either painted or dyed previously and has flaked in places. So I decided to try and remove the old dye/paint before restoring with Plasticare.

 

I've used Scotch pads, but the problem is that they damage the texture. In some areas I've gone too far and it's almost smoothed the plastic, some of it is scratched in the direction of use, and in the rest of it I've not been so aggressive and had to compromise and accept that I'm not getting it back to bare plastic.

 

So is there any chemicals or methods that can remove this stuff without damaging the texture?

 

Also, a note for anyone restoring their trim and using Plasticare - I believe the bumpers are made of different plastic to the side trims, and I've just found that I smoothed the bumpers much more easily than the rest of the tirm, which was not my intention. I don't know if it's because of this, or because of the type of plastic, or maybe that there is still old chemicals present (I cleaned thoroughly and used panel wipe) but the Plasticare is not covering well on the bumpers. It doesn't seem to be absorbing. Bare that in mind.

[steve@cornwall 100]

a suede brush used gently is pretty good

[GLPoomobile 958]

I'll have to try and get hold of one.

 

I can see there being a lot of elbow grease involved. It's been time consuming enough using the scotch pads!

[philfingers 5]

i plasticare'd mine about 5 months ago and it's still looking good, i used the black. Used celly thinners to clean the trim first before applying with a paint brush, i thinned the plasticare stuff down with a little bit of celly thinners, goes on better when not quite so thick. maybe your bumpers are pattern ones?

It's damn good stuff. I used half a bottle on mine, including mirrors.

 

Phil

[Goliath 94]

I have the same problem as you on my sorrento Steve and I was wondering the same thing. So far I have attacked mine with a pressure washer while washing the car, this successfully removed a fair amount of the flaked paint but not quite all of it. I can't even get the old paint smooth if I wanted to paint over the top again. doh!

[jimistdt 1]

I'll have to try and get hold of one.

 

I can see there being a lot of elbow grease involved. It's been time consuming enough using the scotch pads!

 

It's on offer down at Screwfix, GLP.

[mickie 3]

paint thinners should work

[Daviewonder 533 3 Cars]

Has anyone tried using brake fluid as this would lift the paint and leave the plastic unharmed, obviously you would have to remove the plastics from the car first though (might take a few days to work though)

[Leon 24]

I've used both 2k and Celly thinners on all sorts, including the seats on my Manta, with good results.

[craig f90 0]

From what im aware the finish on the bumber is painted with a textured grey/black finish. Because the bumpers are made from fibreglass. The paint very similar to the stuff the lower half of the old espaces were painted with. Id be tempted to use regular wax on them.

As for setting paint off id use scotch and soapy water wont be as harsh on the plastic.