What is the secret to cleaning these door panels?!?

[ansky]

Apologies if heavily worn territory but how do you clean the exterior bottom panels along the doors? I just scrubbed the hell out of an area to see if anything helps and it’s almost as if I never touched it.

Any advice???

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[madgrey]

Do you mean the plastic? What does it look like after you wash it? Get it clean and use Cerakote plastic trim coat on it.

BTW: Who lives in Gunbarrel? (I actually lived there briefly in '86)

 

[ansky]

Yep, the plastic. That's what it looks like after I washed it.
Hit it with the drill brush for about an hour after the OP. Definitely helped but still not great.

Gunbarrel is still a random place, friend. Lots of offices, lots of families but quiter and cheaper than Boulder at the end of the day.

 

[madgrey]

I thought that was wash suds dripping down the plastic. On second thought maybe wet concrete cement spashed up there. What exactly happened?

 

[BronxBomber]

Planning on using Meguiar’s Hyper Dressing diluted down. Love it for my tires and works well with all trims as well, apparently.

Meguiar's D17001 Hyper Dressing: https://a.co/d/6GbWyau

 

[Rasputin]

There’s been a couple threads on this…

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/best-product-for-plastic-trim-bumpers.13749/

 

[DaveA]

Apologies if heavily worn territory but how do you clean the exterior bottom panels along the doors? I just scrubbed the hell out of an area to see if anything helps and it’s almost as if I never touched it.

Any advice???

Power washer and a blowtorch…OR stiff brittle brush with dish soap. Tedious as all hell.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Touchless car wash with Underbody/wheel blast and a couple loops... It's the hardest thing I've ever had to clean.

 

[elektrode]

The most difficult plastic to clean on any vehicle I’ve ever owned.

 

[suprteck]

303 aerospace protectant

 

[ironpig]

The most difficult plastic to clean on any vehicle I’ve ever owned.

Agreed. No idea what they used, but these things will always look dirty. Luckily my truck is always dirty anyway, but once or twice a year it would be nice to have them shiny after a detailing.

 

[shrink]

303 aerospace protectant

I’ve read good things about the 303. I personally went with the following and my trim looks fantastic:

Wolfgang Concours Series Exterior Trim Sealant, 8 oz. Bottle, Automotive Exterior Trim Protectant & Sealant for Plastics, Rubber, Vinyl & Metal, Clear, WG-3000 https://a.co/d/0AwJjs6

 

[josephponline]

+1 on Cerakote.

Same thing happened to my trim and couldn’t get it clean. It’s like the plastic absorbed the road grime and had no original sealant on it. My neighbor put me on to Cerakote. Cleaned the truck then wiped the trim and now it looks and cleans like every other trim on every other vehicle I’ve owned.

 

[strykerwsu]

Ceramic coated when brought home. Cleans up great and stays as black as plastic can.

 

[elektrode]

Just washed. High pressure hose aimed 2” away.

Super frustrating garbage plastic.

is the 303 Aerospace Alien formula for cleaning too or just for protecting?

I’ve never had to research industrial cleaning supplies to wash a damn truck.

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