Do you want to learn how to permanently restore black plastic trim or how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior without spending much? If yes, then you are going to love these step-by-step methods of removing scratches from car plastic exterior. So, let’s jump right into it!
If you are using your car regularly, then it is evident that you will get big to minor scratches on your car surface. And no car owner would appreciate even a minor scratch on the exterior of their brand new and shiny car. Right?
But sometimes, taking the car to the garage for servicing and removing the scratches takes both time and money because most car owners do not know what is the best way to restore exterior black plastic trim and how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior without going to the professional car servicing stations.
However, you can resolve the minor scratches of the car surface by trying a few simple methods and by using certain car scratch remover products.
Yes, it is indeed a time taking work and also needs a lot of patience and skills to get through this, but if you love your car, then shelling out time and patience to bring it back to its original condition simply would not irritate you!
If you don’t know how to fix the scratches on your car’s plastic surface, you will find some of the most effective and best ways to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior in this article below. So, just go through it and discover how to remove scratches from black plastic bumper or plastic trim without having to go to the professionals for the same!
Along with all the possible methods to remove scratches from plastic car exterior, you will also get to know what is the best black plastic trim restorer for cars on the market right now and how to permanently restore black plastic trim at home.
How to Remove Scratches from Black Plastic Car Exterior
Often, people remain confused as to how to remove scratches from plastic car exterior. Most of the time, they prefer going to a mechanic or an auto repair service station for mending car scratches. It is far from normal that car owners use DIY methods to get rid of car scratches.
But it is a fact that these minor (or major) scratches can be removed by using some simple formulas, and you can do it on your own without having to go to a car mechanic. Follow these below explained instructions and learn how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior in 8 simple steps:
Step 1: Clean the Scratched Areas
The first thing that you must do before you fix the scratch of your car plastic is to clean it. The general formula for removing scratches from black plastic car exterior is an easy process, but there are some steps that you cannot miss out on while you try your hand at fixing the car plastic scratches.
You must clean it thoroughly to get rid of any type of debris or loose contaminants so that they do not come between your scratch fixation process. For cleaning your car and the scratched areas properly, you can use Mr. Pink Super Suds Car Wash Shampoo or Meguiar’s Gold Class Car Wash shampoo and conditioner.
These top-rated and best car wash soap for black cars are not only effective in cleaning your car but also provide conditioning properties that you will seldom found in other car cleaning products. No matter how dirty your car’s plastic exterior is, these cleaners are effective enough to clean it off!
They do not affect the car’s paint and bring out a glow even when your vehicle has scratches all over. So, just clean the scratched areas using any of these car washing products and then proceed to the next step.
Step 2: Buff Out the Scratches with (800 Grit) Sandpaper
When you are done washing off the extra dirt from the scratch point of your car, you must buff out the scratches using 800 grit sandpaper. This will smoothen the scratch surface, which shall make your scratch fixing process easier. If you want to remove scratches from plastic trim or plastic bumper of your car, then this step is a must as it helps a lot in the fixing process.
The good quality sandpaper sheets are generally made of silicon carbide, which proves to be an excellent scrubber to fix the scratching portion and smoothen it. If you are looking for suggestions, then you can go for the Abrasive Dry Wet Waterproof Sandpaper and 120 to 3000 Grit Sandpaper Sheets for their efficacy in buffing out the scratches.
These wet dry sandpapers have a good catch over the car’s exterior surface and polish it perfectly. These two waterproof sandpapers are of premium quality that possesses silicone carbide and have electro-coated technology for best servicing. You get a full pack of sandpapers when you buy it that will help in the process better.
Step 3: Wipe the Surface with a Microfiber Cloth
Before you use a car plastic scratch remover or the best black plastic trim restorer for cars, you need to follow a few steps to work fine on fixing the scratches on your car surface. This step is one of them. After you’re done cleaning and buffing the scratches areas, the next thing you need to do is wipe the surface with a microfiber cloth.
The microfiber cloth absorbs any kind of moisture content on the car surface, making it dry enough to use the trim restorer. So wiping a surface with a premium quality microfiber cloth before you move on to the other step is necessary.
There are many microfiber brands available in the market, of which the Chemical Guys Professional Grade Premium Microfiber Towel and Meguiar’s Water Magnet Microfiber Drying Towels are considerably the best.
These are long-lasting microfiber cloths made for easy wiping and cleaning of the car surface. The other commendable properties of these microfiber cloths include having better absorbency, large size, effective, long-lasting, size variant, and affordable price rates.
Step 4: Mask Off the Surrounding Areas
After you are done wiping the surface with the microfiber cloth, you must not jump to use the plastic bumper scratch repair kit on your car. Rather, you must ensure that you apply it only in the scratched areas and do not let it spread into the surrounding areas of the car surface.
So, what shall you do?
You must mask off the surrounding areas such as the car windshield and the other parts to prevent any kind of damages to those areas. You can do that using automotive masking tape or other customized tapes that are good for the purpose.
Some specialized painters masking tape is also available in the market, and you can get them at the local hardware shop that you can use for the masking of the car’s surrounding areas.
Sometimes people think that masking the surrounding area is not needed to get away with the restoration process without harming the car’s surface. Still, It can be that while fixing the scratches, you are causing harm to the outer part of the vehicle. So, it is better to prevent it from happening by masking off the surrounding areas.
Step 5: Degrease the Plastic Trim Properly
Are you scratching your head, thinking about how to get scratches out of plastic car exteriors? Well, you should calm down and try to follow the given steps that would make your restoration process more manageable. Out of all the steps mentioned here, this one is very significant.
You must adequately degrease the plastic trim so that you can make the surface cleaner and remove all types of contaminants that surround it. If you are in search of the best plastic degreasers for your car exterior, then you can consider buying the Chemical Guys Signature Series Orange Degreaser (citrus-based formula) or Adam’s Heavy-Duty All-Purpose Cleaner and Degreaser (industrial cleaner).
These heavy-duty degreasers are not only effective for grease removal but also take care of your car’s exterior surface inadvertently. In addition to this, these cleaners and degreasers would also help in smoothing the surface, thus making the fixing process an easier one.
Both these are professional citrus-based degreasers meant for multi-purpose cleaning activities. The degreasers are effective in handling all types of grease, oil, dirt, grime, etc. that can cause hindrance in the scratch restoration process.
Step 6: Apply the Black Plastic Trim Restorer
If you wanted to learn how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior or how to permanently restore black plastic trim, in that case, you need to pay special attention to this step as this is the step that determines how neat your black plastic car exterior looks after the repair.
This is the most significant step of the entire color restoration and scratches the healing process. In this step, the scratch would be healed, and you will get back the original plastic exterior of your car. The black trimmer aims at restoring the faded plastic exterior to its former position.
You must use a high-quality and best black plastic trim restorer for cars to execute the color restoration process. Otherwise, many such products are available on the market that does not live up to the expectations of removing scratches from plastic car exterior.
So it would be best if you bought some of the best black plastic restorers such as TriNova Plastic and Trim Restorer and Mothers Back to Black Trim and Plastic Restorer for their efficacy in restoring the plastic exterior of your car.
If the scratch on your car is too deep, then you may need to apply the plastic and trim restorer product more than once. But if the scratch is a minor one, then applying it once is enough. Car owners highly value both these auto plastic trim restorers. You also get free applicators with these, which shall make the application process an easier one.
Step 7: Polish the Newly Repaired Area
If you are in two minds thinking, “Can you polish scratches out of plastic or not?” then worry not! You can polish scratches out of the car’s newly repaired area if any scratch traces are still left to be repaired. When you use the trim restorer on the plastic surface, there can be rigidity, cloudiness, or improper smoothness on the scratched portion, which might need polishing to get back to the original form.
When you use a polish to restore the scratched surface and make it smooth, you get the perfect finish you have been craving for! Polishing the car surface generally leaves the car surface with a glowy finish as if it’s your new car!
The Novus Plastic Polish Kit and Meguiar’s PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish are considered the best polish for the plastic car exterior surface. These Kits come in a whole package that shall take care of the scratch fixing process of the car surface. These are affordable and lasts longer than other similar products available in the market.
Step 8: Remove the Masking and Admire Your work!
You are all done after polishing the surface. Now you just need to remove the masking that you had done earlier (in step 4) to protect the surrounding areas of the car surface, and you get a whole new look of the car as the scratch vanishes.
This is the best way to restore exterior black plastic trim without going to a car mechanic, and it is cost-friendly too. Isn’t it?
If you follow these simple steps, neither do you have to spare your time and effort to take your car to the car mechanic, nor do you have to spend huge bucks in removing scratches from black plastic bumpers or black plastic trims. You just need to follow the given steps accurately, and boom, the scratch is gone!
Sometimes when the scratch is very rigid, and even after using these techniques, it is not fixed, you may have to reapply the black plastic trim restorer again.
If the scratch does not heal, it is only then you may need to go to a professional car scratch fixing solution. Otherwise, these step-by-step formulas are good enough to fix the scratches on the plastic car exterior surface.
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7 Best Black Plastic Trim Restorer for Cars
Now that you know the step-by-step process to fix scratched plastic car exterior, you must know which plastic and trim restorer works best for the purpose. There are many car scratch trim restorers present on the market that you can consider buying for fixing the scratches. But if you are looking for a reliable and best black plastic trim restorer for your dear car, then here are some top-rated options that you can choose from.
Just scroll and go through the section below to find out what is the best plastic and trim restorer on the market right now and how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior using these premium quality black plastic trim restorer for cars. Here we go:
TriNova Plastic and Trim Restorer
If you are on the surge to buy the best car exterior plastic trim restorer for fixing your scratched car surface, then you can go for the TriNova Plastic and Trim Restorer without a doubt. With an advanced protection formula, this gel oriented restorer has all the required properties for a restorer to top any list.
It starts with darkening the color of the plastic and brings it a glow and shine as if the car is fresh out of the showroom. Not only does it restore the shine, but it also provides long-lasting protection from climatic adversities like rain, snow, heat, etc.
TriNova Plastic Trim Restorer has a gel-based formula that is inevitably easy to apply and leaves behind an attractive glow after you are done using it on the car plastic surface. There are complaints that other similar products leave behind streaky residue after a few washes or rain showers, but this one promises to be streak-free and is not necessarily just a black dye.
Product Highlights:
- You get a free applicator with the product package.
- It acts faster than other restorers.
- Protect against harmful UV rays.
- It has a very affordable price range.
Challenges:
- It does not come in variant sizes.
- No product manufacturing warranty.
Mothers Back to Black Trim and Plastic Restorer
Your search for the best black trim restorer for cars ends with this best-rated auto plastic trim restorer product! You get all the desired qualities in this trim restorer that you need for fixing the scratches on your car’s exterior surface. This awesome black trim and plastic restorer not only restores the scratches but is also effective in dealing with all types of dirt, wax residue, oxidation, etc.
Not only that, but apart from fixing these issues, Mothers Back-to-Black Trim and Plastic Restorer also provides extreme protection from further damage to the plastic exterior that can be caused due to smog, snow, heat, UV rays, rain, water washes, and other similar conditions.
If you think that this would prove to be beneficial for only black plastic car exteriors, then you are wrong. This excellent restorer works in every colored car exterior. And one of the best properties of this restorer is that it can be used for both interiors and exterior of the car.
So, it means if you have scratches or dents on your car windshield, door handles, vents, or any other areas, you can use this restorer to fix it quickly. In my opinion, this one is an exceptionally suitable and effective product for restoring black plastic trim quickly.
Product Highlights:
- It provides a darker and shinier finish.
- It has an easy application process with faster drying properties.
- Quite affordable for regular car users.
Challenges:
- The package does not contain an applicator.
- No warranty by the manufacturer.
Meguiar’s Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer
Are you looking for the best black plastic car trim restorer? Then you will be delighted with this top-rated car plastic scratch remover product. This very affordable and durable plastic trim restorer has all the qualities to effectively fix your car’s scratches.
Unlike the other gel-based restorers, Meguiar’s Black Plastic Restorer is cream-based, which gives more effectiveness to the car scratch fixing process. When you apply it to your car’s exterior plastic, it leaves behind a glossier and shinier finish that makes your car look like a new one, just like it is coming out of the showroom.
Whether your vehicle is under the rain for too long or under the sun, the glossiness does not fade away easily. It provides complete protection against harmful UV rays and other types of climatic adversities. It has a non-greasy and non-streaky formula that makes it count amongst the best car plastic restorers available on the market right now.
Product Highlights:
- Last longer with a darker and glossier finish.
- It has an affordable price range.
- Ideal for vinyl, plastic and rubber surface also.
- It has versatile use in the interiors and exterior of the car.
Challenges:
- Suitable only for the black surface.
- No product warranty.
CarGuys Plastic Restorer
This is inevitably one of the best plastic trim restorers for cars that is available in the market. It has versatile use, which means you can use this restorer on any car surface, be it vinyl, plastic, or rubber. The application of this restorer provides a darker and shinier finish that lasts for a more extended period.
The company promises that it “lasts” more prolonged than usual, and they mean the same. You can go for several months without reapplying to the restorer again. Car Guys Plastic Restorer doesn’t leave behind any type of oily or greasy formula and dries faster to give you a “complete touch” experience.
No matter how much your car soaks in the rain or gets driven under the sun, the effect will surely last longer as compared to the other similar items. It is free of any kind of harmful chemicals like petroleum distillates or silicone, which means it is made from purely organic ingredients that make it environment-friendly and safe to use.
When it comes to learning about the best way to restore exterior black plastic trim or how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior quickly, then almost all professional auto services and car experts recommend this long-lasting black plastic restorer.
Product Highlights:
- You get a full refund of your money if you are not satisfied with the product after buying.
- It has a very affordable price range.
- It uses nanotechnology to make it environment friendly.
Challenges:
- No applicator in the package.
- Size variant options not available.
CERAKOTE Quick Plastic Trim Restorer
You may need this popular plastic trim restorer for a quick fix of the fading plastic car surface or the scratches that give out a bad looking vibe of the car. This is considered the best trim and plastic restorer because of its remarkable properties.
If your car’s plastic exterior is faded, then you would love to use the Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat Restorer as this does not only give you a proper shiny finish but also make sure that it lasts longer than usual.
Right from restoring the trim to protecting against further damages, this fantastic plastic trim restorer works wonderfully well for fixing car scratch issues. It provides a ceramic coating that helps in preventing damage caused by heat and rain weather conditions.
Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat Plastic Trim Restorer is made scientifically with experienced chemists who infuse science to make this restorer that has ceramic content that mixes well with the plastic exterior providing a smoother finish.
Product Highlights:
- The package comes with 10 individual wipes that would make the application process easier so that you don’t feel greasy while applying it.
- You get 2 years of guarantee with every purchase, so if the ceramic coating does not last for 2 years, you will get your money back.
Challenges:
- It does not work on all surface.
Solution Finish Black Plastic and Vinyl Plastic Trim Restorer
This can be considered the best product to restore black plastic trim on your car’s surface. Solution Finish Black Trim Restorer comes in two different sizes, which you can buy depending upon your preferences. This incredible car trim solution promises to make your car’s car surface shinier and glossier than the new vehicles.
No matter how faded or worn out your car exterior plastic has become, the Solution Finish Trim Restorer can easily fix it back to its original condition and make it even better. It provides protection against all types of climatic conditions like rain, snow, heat, etc.
This top-rated and best black plastic trim restorer works on both plastic and vinyl surfaces and can also be implemented in the car’s interiors. It gives out a deep black matte finish, which looks exceptionally well on the car surface. No matter how withered the condition of your car is, this restorer will bring back the lost glow on the surface quickly.
Product Highlights:
- You get adequate customer support service after buying this product for any kind of assistance you require. If you are not satisfied with the product, you can call them for any help.
- Very low priced; you get a 1 oz bottle under $10.
Challenges:
- It does not fix other colors than black.
Carfidant Trim and Plastic Restorer
If you wanted an easy to apply black plastic trim restorer for cars, then the Ultimate Plastic and Trim Restorer by Carfidant is among the top auto plastic trim restorer choices for your vehicles. This is an excellent exterior black trim restorer for cars that have faded and scratched exterior surfaces.
Carfidant Plastic Trim Restorer is effective in all kinds of car surfaces, which counts vinyl surface, rubber surface, and plastic surface as well. Not only the outer car surface, but this restorer also works wonderfully well to fix the car interiors as well.
You get a long-lasting effect after you use this restorer to fix dull and faded surfaces inside and outside of the car. Besides healing the surface, this restorer also provides protection features to the surface that prevent ageing, fading, and drying the car plastic surface.
It is made with specially formulated ingredients that make it a safe using product on all car surfaces. Once you use this product, you won’t have to worry about the black plastic bumper scratch repair anymore. It’s incredibly effective and quite suitable for removing scratches from black plastic bumper and trim.
Product Highlights:
- You get a full refund from the manufacturer if you are not satisfied with the product quality.
- Easy to apply as you get an applicator with the package.
- It has an affordable price rate.
- Works in all types of car colors and not only for black surfaces.
- Good customer service support if not satisfied with the purchase.
Challenges:
- It has an option of only 250 ml bottle size.
Author’s View on How to Remove Scratches from Black Plastic Car Exterior
It does feel bad when your dear car’s exteriors get scratched while you are driving it on the road. But sometimes you cannot avoid them due to carelessness on the road. People tend to go to a car mechanic to fix such scratches without acknowledging the fact that these scratches can be repaired at home too!
But it needs knowledge, time, and a small amount of money to get them done. The best way to restore black plastic trim is to use a high-quality trim and plastic restorer and follow the steps that have been mentioned in the article above. There are good and very good car paint restoring products available on the market that can be bought for this purpose.
Personally, I would like to fix my car’s scratches all by myself as my car is dear to me and I won’t prefer taking it to the service station for fixing. But it is a totally personal choice; people might have other preferences also. If you are looking for the most reliable and best black plastic trim restorer for cars, then my suggestion would be:
- Mothers Back to Black Trim and Plastic Restorer
- CAR GUYS Plastic Restorer
- Solution Finish Black Plastic and Vinyl Plastic Trim Restorer
These trim and plastic restorer products are effectively good at fixing dents and scratches on the car, even if they are heavy. But these are my pick; you can choose the best car exterior plastic trim restorer for your vehicle depending upon the extent of the scratch and your car exterior type.
If you found this step by step guide, “how to remove scratches from black plastic car exterior”, helpful for you, then feel free to share it with your friends and family members on social media networks so that they can also fix their scratched plastic car exterior easily without spending much. All the best!
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