The downside to living in a lovely green orb heated and lit by the sun is ultraviolet light.
Aside from what it does to your leathery old face, it does something similar to all that black plastic trim on the outside of your car, turning it kind of a sad shade of Soviet gray.
So.
let's learn how to use some new products to turn the clock back to black.
[MUSIC]
Okay, before we get started, in my experience I lump the products we're gonna use into four buckets.
First of all You've got your restoratives here.
These are the products that are what you normally think of.
They take something gray and turn it black again.
A lot of these have got names like nano this and nano that.
Probably about as accurate as when you see AI applied to something these days, but whatever.
If it works it works and the ones that got here do seem to do that.
Once you get beyond the parents, there's function this is a seal conditioner, black rubber seals have a different need to stay pliable in the face of UV light, we're gonna play with that as well.
When you're done a protectant is great, you're thinking armor all but there are some that even more specific about UV blocking to make sure the work you just did Stays effective for a while, and finally, a separate carve out for things like vinyl tops, if you've got a vintage car, or all that pleather in your car.
Or those plastic clear windows on some convertibles.
They need a different kind of UV restorative.
Let's get to work.
[MUSIC]
Okay, the first restore I've got here has interesting process.
It lets you dilute it with Into water and depending on the ratio, you achieve not a different level of black they say, but a different level of sheen or gloss.
That can be particularly useful when you use this on tires.
Well, that super shiny look is about as cool as the polished wheel look But most of these products are pretty simple.
They come out of the bottle just like they are.
You put them on a microfiber rag in this case.
I think that's the best way to go, with a little bit of texture, but not something that's gonna scratch your plastic parts.
And then work it in like you mean it, because what you wanna do here is take off some of the damaged surface.
Not a lot of it.
You're not gonna sand these parts, cuz That would be a big mistake.
But you really wanna put some elbow grease into it.
And get down in there and remove some of the damaged plastic.
Now if you think this is gonna be like some TV infomercial, where you wipe it on, wipe it off and five minutes later you're down by the pool with the kids.
Forget it, doesn't work that way.
This requires some effort, I think it also requires two or three applications over the span of an hour or two.
And by the way don't do this out in the sun.
It's like polishing a car.
It's best done in some shade, or in the garage.
The more you work at this, the longer it will last.
It won't necessarily be blacker, but it will stay black longer, and that's key.
Cuz let's face it, this isn't any fun.
[MUSIC]
Now we just did is cosmetic.
The blackboard should look black, so the car has better contrast and just looks sharper and younger.
But this is a real functional thing we're gonna tackle here.
The UV damage that can happen to door seals, trunk seals, all kinds of things, especially if they're exposed to the light.
Some of these aren't, some of these are, they're closer or further away from the sun.
I'm gonna use this protectant I've got here that is just for rubber seals.
It goes on differently in this case.
You're gonna take it, and I like to put it on pretty generously, and you let it sit for a while.
And get it all in the crevices and all the surfaces there, and it doesn't look like much.
This isn't a cosmetic treatment.
But wherever you've got damaged rubber, kinda sponge that on and it says let it sit for half an hour to get in there.
Then you come back and wipe off any excess.
And this stuff's really important if you drive older cars, vintage cars, or hang on to your cars a long time.
I think I fit all three of those categories.
Because after about ten years or so past production, a lot of the times these rubber seals start to become unobtainium.
And even if you do find a set, they never quite fit the way the factory ones do, so just take care of the original.
[MUSIC]
Okay, so you spent all day in front of your driveway fiddling around, rubbing stuff into black plastic parts as your neighbor drove back and forth to the pool down at the community center laughing at you.
So you don't wanna do this again anytime soon.
Let's protect our work, this is a protectant spray specifically meant to block UV.
Now, this isn't gonna be like applying window tint or keeping your car in a car port, but it's a little micro-layer Of, hopefully, some kind of U.V. blocking.
This is just to give it a little bit of a surface that will be shielded against nasty Mr. Sun.
Okay, our last step in U.V. protection and restoration is gonna be to go after vinyl Plastics that are inside that are more about upholstery and trim.
This stuff here is marine grade vinyl cleaner and conditioner.
I get really good luck with this.
It's also great for vinyl tops.
For you vintage car owners, who might have a fantastic Brome sitting in the garage.
Put a little bit of this on the rage as usual, it's the same old instructions.
And then work it in there.
This is just like everything else we've done, you're gonna be paid dividends.
If you take some effort on working this in there, don't rip anything, but get it in there, really work on that surface that got degraded.
When you're done, you bump off the excess.
Don't look for a shine here so much as the richness, and overtime a pliability that remains in the material, especially the shoulder areas of seats.
These get cooked all the time.
They sit right up inside the glass.
And they often break and get brittle.
Mine aren't cuz I'm gonna keep them nice this way.
[MUSIC]
Okay, looking pretty good, looking a lot younger, looking a lot sharper, the details are what make a car look good to be honest.
That's why they call it detailing.
How long will this last?
If you do a really good job, in my experience I can go six months before I really notice that it's faded back again, sometimes a year, depending on how much you're scrutinizing it.
You will not, or should not, have to do this every car wash or every month.
Forget it.
No one's going to do that.
Unless you've got a collectible or vintage car.
So get out there, do it right.
See if you don't love your car more.
I bet you will.
And most importantly, a lot of those difficult parts to replace down the road may never need it.
