Anyone have any tips for cleaning the exterior black plastic along the window frames? It gets horribly smudged with fingerprints. My mild Poorboys car wash, and Poorboys plastic cleaner and conditioner, does nothing. I have also tried diluted Simple Green to no effect. I am reluctant to use anything harsher. Anyone have any secrets?

303 Aerospace protectant is all I use on plastic and rubber. It's got SPF UV sunscreen built in and is made for plastic/vinyl/rubber. I use it after each wash on the black parts and light lenses to keep them clear.

Any Carnuba wax will keep those parts black and shiny. I have been using this on all my cars black parts including rubber and plastic for years.

David <><

+1 on 303 :thumbsup:

Thanks for this, but I need to know how to clean the oily finger smudges off. Keeping the smudges off once the plastic is clean is a separate question.

On that note, I use Collinite 476s, but even though it works brilliantly on the metal, it doesn't seem to work well in keeping smudges off the plastic. Perhaps I will give Aerospace 303 a try. But first I need to get the plastic clean.

So, to ask again, what do people use to get the plastic clean?

I find that Spray Nine works nicely on plastic and rubber trim, as does a paper towel dampened with a little rubbing alcohol. I even confess to using paint thinner in the past, although you're probably playing with fire there :P

In any event, the trick is to dissolve the grease, rather than covering it up with something greasier, and then re-wax the surrounding painted surfaces.

Use a spray detailer. Like Mother or Simoniz. Canadian Tire has numerous and all are pretty good. I usually use the two for when I did car shows to take finger prints off.

Use the spray with a soft cloth and flip over to ensure that what ever was on the fingers isn't being put back on when you wipe dry.

Hope this helps.