How to clean/restore vinyl stripes

[lizardrko]

My gloss black stripes have begun to dull and get some water spots that wont seem to come off with a wash. I tried Adams hand polish + meguiars back to black and it helped a little, but some water marks are still present and the stripes are still not as shiny as original. Anyone tried any products that work? Thinking I might try hand polishing it again, might have been too hot when I last did it. Just bought some turtle wax hybrid ceramic spray coating + wet wax so will try that after I polish if there are not other options.

Screenshot is the best I have at the moment. Notice the roof is more faded and top of the hood has the water marks.

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[RasJeremy]

Depending on the quality of your vinyl you can wash it down, clean it with and APC and then heat it up a little with a heatgun to freshen up up vinyl

Afterwards you can coat it with a coating meant for vinyl. I would recommend Carpro CQuartz Skin

 

[lizardrko]

Depending on the quality of your vinyl you can wash it down, clean it with and APC and then heat it up a little with a heatgun to freshen up up vinyl

Afterwards you can coat it with a coating meant for vinyl. I would recommend Carpro CQuartz Skin

Thanks for the suggestion. The heatgun will still freshen up the vinyl if it has been on the car for a few years?

 

[RasJeremy]

The heatgun will still freshen up the vinyl if it has been on the car for a few years?

That's the part about how good quality your vinyl is. Don't burn it but do some passes with the heatgun and get it warm. The better quality the easier it restores itself.
You can try to polish it which probably also will have some effect but I think the healing effekt from polishing is the heat created also


This is my wife's car which has had vinyl on it since new and it is from 2012. I tried the polish first which gave a glossy new look but with the heatgun the minor scratches and imperfections came out with the heatgun. in the video it has gotten hard wax - it was before I worked with coating, so I think you're able to make your vinyl look good again
https://i.imgur.com/FHNSSuJ.mp4

 

[lizardrko]

That's the part about how good quality your vinyl is. Don't burn it but do some passes with the heatgun and get it warm. The better quality the easier it restores itself.
You can try to polish it which probably also will have some effect but I think the healing effekt from polishing is the heat created also


This is my wife's car which has had vinyl on it since new and it is from 2012. I tried the polish first which gave a glossy new look but with the heatgun the minor scratches and imperfections came out with the heatgun. in the video it has gotten hard wax - it was before I worked with coating, so I think you're able to make your vinyl look good again
https://i.imgur.com/FHNSSuJ.mp4

I believe its 3M I got it professionally installed so it better be good quality lol. The heat gun wont cause it to lift off the paint at all?

 

[FatPat]

Vinyl likes heat, but typically when the color/finish is breaking down, it needs to be replaced. You likely won't hurt it with heat (as long as you're not getting it super hot). From what I've seen, vinyl doesn't last much longer than 5 years.

 

[Arknsawchuck]

Most vinyl is only good for about 3 to 5 years and then needs to be replaced. Rather than trying to bring those dead stripes back to life I'd just buy some vinyl and knifeless tape and put some new ones on. Shouldn't cost more than 140 dollars and take about 6 to 8 hours to do. Depending on your skills. I've done 3 cars so far and it just keeps getting easier.

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