car wash-chrome problems help!

[Jayhawk]

My MBCA Section in KC had a tech session at a high end auto body place recently (Eveland Bros. Collision Repair Center) and the owner, following an extensive classroom information presentation, took us on a walk-through of the entire shop area. It was a very impressive place, and near the end of the tour he pointed out several cars w/ degrees of faded and discolored plastic trim. He attributed it mostly to the sun, but he then put a finish-cleaner product on a cloth and proceed to bring back the original shine. The old cars trim looked like the new cars when he finished. It was kind of amazing...

[CharlesAFerg]

Originally Posted by SIMONVW126

It's in the soap. It wears down black rubber, stains plastic, and discolors chrome. I take my tahoe into a carwash since in GA we cannot wash our cars anymore and it has been slowly deteriorating the onstar antenna on the roof. DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO ANY AUTOMATED CARWASH! Keep in mind when taking it or washing it yourself to use hand soap or dish soap as it is gentle and keeps the car shiny.

Only use hand or dish soap if you are prepping the car to be compounded/polished, or adding an LSP or Last Step Product(some type of protectant, whether it be carnauba wax, polymer/synthetic sealant, acrylic sealant etc...) It's not good for the finish of any surface of your car to wash it with dawn every time, you're leaving it bare and vulnerable for anything to stick to it and stay there to cause damage. eg acidic bird droppings that will etch into any surface. LSPs are your best friend.

You want to use PH balanced soaps available at the auto parts store. Don't get anything with "wax as you wash" just plain car wash soap is perfect, even the slightest of other "features" have adverse effects on LSP application and longevity.

Yet, what you say at the beginning is very true. It will deteriorate the trim materials on your car, and eventually the paint.

Originally Posted by Jayhawk

My MBCA Section in KC had a tech session at a high end auto body place recently (Eveland Bros. Collision Repair Center) and the owner, following an extensive classroom information presentation, took us on a walk-through of the entire shop area. It was a very impressive place, and near the end of the tour he pointed out several cars w/ degrees of faded and discolored plastic trim. He attributed it mostly to the sun, but he then put a finish-cleaner product on a cloth and proceed to bring back the original shine. The old cars trim looked like the new cars when he finished. It was kind of amazing...

There really isn't much you can do in this case, and he probably put on a petroleum based product to make it shine black, but there are other, less detrimental products he could have used as well. Hard to say.

The thing is, that shine will wash off in the rain, and if it is petroleum, it may last a month at max - but it will gum up anything you wash your car with.

It's only cover-up that doesn't last.