I spray on Simple Green and scrub GENTLY with a soft brush. I say GENTLY because I suspect hard scrubbing will affect the sheen on the plastic trim.

 

Thanks for the help, I will try that.

 

I had an issue with white wax residue that I missed when waxing my wife's 2014 Santa Fe LWB that baked onto the black plastic trim in the sun. Could not find any type of cleaner that would remove it so I resorted to looking into a Trim Restorer, most of which are a temporary fix. Consumer reports ranked MEDS ReNU Pro as the most effective at restoring the trim back to a deep black followed by Wipe New, Turtle Wax Trim Restorer and then Mothers Back to Black. The first 2 options are expensive and mostly just available on-line so I bought the Turtle Wax product at Advance Auto Parts for $7 after a 30% coupon so I knew if it did not work then I am only out $7. I just applied it last weekend and so far I am impressed. It is a clear thin liquid that comes with a small foam applicator pad. It applies easily and then you just buff with a microfiber towel after 5 to 10 minutes. Any that creeps onto the paint can be easily removed when you are buffing it. It only took about 20 minutes to do all of the trim on the bottom of the car(did not do roof rails) and only used about an 1/8 of the bottle. The wax residue is now gone completely and the trim looks like the day that I bought the car, not that it was in bad shape other than the wax residue but it does look really good. Now to just see if the claims of surviving multiple car washes, rain and everyday driving over months before a new application is needed hold true.

Here is a link to the Turtle wax site for it.

https://www.turtlewax.com/shop/products/turtle-wax-trim-restorer

 

Thanks for the info, another product for me to try!

 

I find if you use a protectant occasionally, you will not have a problem with cleaning the black plastic with anything more than a soapy mitt. It also keeps the plastic looking nice and black through several washes rather than that dull grayish colour. I have been using Chemical Guys Black on Black spray and it works fairly well, although I find that it mists too much and gets all over the car. So I have resorted to spraying on a tire sponge and applying that way. There are tons of options out there. Another I like is water based 303 Aerospace. I never have to pull out special cleaners or a scrub brush to clean mine.

Certain waxes or polishes will stain your plastic white. I have heard that peanut butter and a tooth brush work wonders to take it out rather than just mask it. I usually tape up my car whenever using a polish or compound (my wax will not stain plastic) to prevent this, so cannot speak to this effectiveness of peanut butter first hand.

 

I have also heard about the peanut butter method and have heard mixed reviews on it. We are getting a good rain here in Atlanta today so I am interested to check tonight or tomorrow morning to see if the TurtleWax product holds up or not.

I also use Aerospace 303 as a protectant on my plastic trim and on the dash and interior door panels. Pricey but great stuff. Only had the issue with my trim because I got sloppy when I waxed it and then did not remove the residue in time.

 

I also live on a dirt road and I tried many of the product mentionned here (if not all of them!). The car looks very nice after, but when you get back on the dirt road, specially when the road is dry, all the dirt sticks on those product. So at the end it's just worst. Same thing for the tires.

My best and cheaper solution at the moment is to put tire spray on those trims, it does the same job and it's cheap. But again, it stay black til I go on dry dirt road.

 

With all due respect, I am not sure what you expect. You live on a dirt road and no matter what you use, your car is going to get dirty as soon as you drive 10 yards...dust if dry, mud if wet. I know...I too had to drive on a dirt road to get to the main road when I was young. I remember waiting until there were no other cars, and driving the 250 yards down the dirt road at about 10 kms/hour to minimize dust. Even then, if the road was recently grated, forget it. No product is going to prevent that from happening unfortunately.

 

Well, for the white marks left by wax, I use a white ordinary eraser (stole one in my kid's bag). Very smooth and none abrasive.

As for the best stuff I found to keep my black moldings top notch, I use Nascar instant wash/wax spray (much better than Armour all or similar products).

 

Not to be confused with their back to black trim restorer. This product is fairly new to the line and works well. Mothers® Back-to-Black® Heavy Duty Trim Cleaner Kit
Haven;t had to use it on the Santa Fe yet but on the rear bumper trim on my Venza it works great and I have yet to have to add any dressing to keep it looking good.