Cleaning Polishing and waxing the Black grille & door pillers on Mk5 GTI

9172 Views 12 Replies 10 Participants Last post by vw lover18, Jul 19, 2010

Slobo

Discussion Starter · Nov 6, 2006

Have a new 2006.5 GTI in Red and was wondering if the glossy black surround around the front grille and panels behind the door windows can be treated the same as the rest of the painted car with cleaning, polishing and sealant products (like Menzerna, Mothers, Meguiars, etc.).

Any tips for products and applicators/wipe-off cloths for these bits?

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Mr. Spool

· #2 · Nov 6, 2006

My suggestion to you to to treat those areas like the other PAINTED surfaces of the car, however not to aggressive. No compounds. No glazes. Just clean them well and protect them with a good quality HARD wax. Not a liquid wax. Also be leary of areas like that painted trim strip around the front grille. (I'm referring to the grille itself.) Don't get wax/sealant on the non-painted plastic. It is very hard to remove wax from these non-painted/texured surfaces.

I've had great success with some of the products from Ardex Labratories. If you have a Black GTI they make a machine polish called '4212 Seal-B'. Tremendous product. A little hard to work with, but well worth the effort. In your case, a Red GTI, there is a product called '4209 Flint Glaze Wax'. This works very well on bright colors (Red, Yellow, Blue, Bright Green, and Pewter/Silver). Check em' out.

(http://www.ardexlabs.com/index2.html)

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Mr. Spool

· #4 · Nov 7, 2006

No. Hard wax and Liquid wax are two different things. Hard wax is the kind that comes in a can and a liquid wax comes in a bottle. Hard wax is traditionally much more durable than liquid wax. You apply both in the same way....a good old rag and elbow power.

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Mr. Spool

· #8 · Nov 7, 2006

I find that the best way to treat the look of your car is to.........(how does the old saying go?) get out of it exactly what you put into it. The difference between the glossiness of liquid and hard waxes is somewhat circumstantial. What makes a car shiny? Reflectivity and surface quality, right? The smoother the surfaces of a vehicle are, the more light it is going to reflect, therefore the car looks much more shiny. Example: If it is the middle of the summer and you know that the next day is going to be a scorcher, wax the car the night before. The logic behind this is that after you wax a car there are still small pieces of wax that sit on the surface. These particles break up the surface and reflect light in different directions. When the car sits in the hot sun the day after you waxed it, these particles melt down and become flat with the surface, reflecting light in one direction. Make sense? Bottom line: the difference in gloss between the two types of wax is really marginal. It is the durability that makes the difference. Hard waxes last much longer than liquid waxes and are much more resilient to the elements. Also remember to clean and polish your car in the proper order. (debug/detar, wash, rinse, clay, rinse, dry, compound/scratch remove (if needed), polish, wax/seal).

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