How To Restore Your Car's Faded Plastic Trim PERMANENTLY

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In this brief video I’m going to show you how to restore your car’s plastic trim from this to this using a few easy steps.
// TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:07 - Surface Prep
01:06 - Restoration Using Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat
02:37 - Results
02:47 - Outro
// PRODUCTS:
Gyeon Surface Prep (pre-mixed IPA): amzn.to/41LYypx
Empty 32 oz. spray bottle: amzn.to/48EMdph
Isopropyl Alcohol: amzn.to/3vu9FqR
Microfiber towels: amzn.to/3RI5oaZ
Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat: amzn.to/48CzpQi
// SUMMARY:
The most important thing to keep in mind for this process is that surface preparation is the key to success. You will not have good, lasting results if you don’t properly prep. I used a solution of 50% isopropyl alcohol and 50% distilled water to give this plastic a thorough wipe down. This is AFTER washing the vehicle. If you don’t want to wash the car with water, you could use an all purpose cleaner or degreaser like Zep or Simple Green.
I can’t stress this step enough. You should spend just as much time and effort cleaning and prepping the surface as you do actually applying a restoration product. In the detailing world this alcohol water mixture is just called IPA for shorthand, though certainly not an IPA you’d want to drink. You can buy a premixed IPA solution but these empty 32 oz. Spray bottles are about $4 and you can pick up some isopropyl alcohol at the store so I think it’s more efficient to just make your own, especially considering you can get a lot of uses around the house out of this stuff. I use it all the time for various things. The alcohol solution will flash off almost immediately leaving a clean, dry surface, which is exactly what you want.
The product I’m using here is called Cerakote Ceramic Trim Coat. This is what’s called a semi-permanent solution because the manufacturer claims it will last at least 2 years or 200 washes. This is an actual ceramic coating that cures on top of the plastic to protect it and maintain that restored look. It’s NOT a greasy dressing that will be gone after a week, which is what most of the other products in this space are.
Of course, that also means it won’t just wash off, so you only get one shot here. If for some reason you had to remove this coating, it would likely require a heavy duty solvent like acetone and/or physical sanding.
This is one of the best, if not THE best product out there for this purpose. For about $15 you get 10 applicator wipes, and depending on how much plastic trim you have, you can probably do 2 vehicles with 1 box of 10 wipes. The product includes gloves and you’ll definitely want to use those and probably wear an old shirt too just in case.
Note that this product is incompatible with any kind of water or moisture. You need a completely dry surface and ideally a day with low humidity to get good results. You also don’t want to let it get exposed to any kind of moisture within about an hour of application. Ideally you should be applying it or any product like this in a shaded and well-ventilated area. If you get any on the paint or headlights or rubber, just wipe it off immediately with a clean towel. This stuff will want to start to cure and harden on anything it touches within minutes.
The interesting thing with this product is what you see immediately when wiping it on is basically the end result aside from it obviously drying. It will retain that deep restored look. This Honda CRV is 23 years old and it’s bringing this trim back to looking brand new. Here’s the next day result. It actually rained the night before so that’s the water you see there, but it’s pretty amazing how restoring this trim completely improved the appearance of the whole car.