Hey I'm going to be detailing a 2013 or 2014 Rav4. It has that lower black plastic body cladding and fender flares/mouldings on it. Whoever tried to wax it last got wax all over those black plastic parts, like they were doing a circular motion applying wax and overlapped a bit on the plastic.

Anyways, what's the best way to get those white "ghosts" off the plastic and get it looking like new? Car is fairly new so the plastic hasn't faded yet, hoping I can get it looking great again.

Car is black and probably needs a paint correction as well, but I don't have a buffer and since this is a freebie job, I'm not going to spend $$$ on compounds/pads, etc.

 

Have you tried a liquid wax over it and then using ye olde toothbrush yet?

 

I haven't tried anything yet. Its my sister's car, was going to detail it for her later this week.

When you say liquid wax, do you mean like a spray wax that you spray on as you dry???

 

http://www.griotsgarage.com/product/...FY4lgQodABgBmg
Try this, I have used their products in the past and they are very good.

 

hot water in some type of sprayer?

or

if the pieces can come off the bumper easily, set them on the ground and continuously pour a pot of hot boiling water over the part until the wax melts away? (more work involved here)


not sure, but just trying to help.

 

A liquid wax will have something in it like petroleum distallates to keep the wax suspended in liquid form. That should breakdown the wax on the rubber / plastic to wipe off most of it and when it dries you can brush the remainder off with the toothbrush.

 

Pink eraser. If theres a lot its going to take awhile. But give a spot a test try. Trust me it works

 

Isopropyl alcohol.

 

Peanut butter

 

the peanut butter thing will work, but it's just hiding things and will reappear

the pink eraser does work, I used that on my RAV4 (ok, I'm the one who got the wax on those parts too)

I finally got tired of seeing the white wax on those parts and googled. Easiest thing to try was the pink eraser as I had one, and surprised that it worked.

 

I use the pink eraser trick. This is a very useful tool as you can trim it to an edge that will get into the smallest of crevices and remove wax or polish residue with one swipe.

 

How have I not heard of this eraser trick? I've got to give it a shot... sounds great

 

I use Isopropyl alcohol to remove dried wax off plastic and rubber trim. you can get it at any store like fred meyer, rite aid ect... comes in a bottle. I mix it 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. works well as a wax remover to strip wax off paint before correcting also.