How to Restore a Faded Plastic car bumper back to its original colour. No Paint No Silicone. T&T #64 

Hi Trev. I did the exact same thing on my wifes mini metro back in the day. The problem was for weeks after our Staffordshire Bull Terrier spent weeks licking her bumpers. He wouldn't come back in the house until he'd got his fix. 😂

I’ve tried numerous approaches over the years. Your technique works but it will go grey again although the oil will help. Personally I know favour black bumper dye. The Wurth product is best but expensive, but Forever Black works just as well. It dyes it black almost permanently. You have to build up the product by applying a few layers but it dries quickly on a warm day so doesn’t take long.

50:50 mix of linseed oil and vinegar and boil it on the stove for 10 minutes to amalgamate. Then wipe that on. Last 6-12 months and looks great.

Great to have you back Trev.

I've heard about this method, but this is the first proper demonstration I've seen on the intertubes. Thanks, and the last clips reminded us what an artist you are.

I have just learned my thing for the day! Great to see you again. I really miss the days of a lot of videos

Great Tip Trev. awesome result. Beats Armarol. Your explanation is correct. The outer skin of the plastic melts and then shines up from the melt process and because there is no surface touching that gloss remains. Most Bumpers are a a blended polymer and often a rubber modified Poly Propylene or similar rubber modified blend. the rubber modiifiers allow paints to stick as Poly Prop is impervious to most paints, glues and other chemicals but chalks up as it gets effected by UV and the elements.

I did some research on plastic that became brittle and one reason is the chemical's are breaking down once that happens there is nothing to be done with it but the video your have here is great I did hear of heating it up but the coconut oil make sense... Just like olive oil for your car interior stay away from armal all that is pure garbage you will never wash it off if you have to mask for paint and it causes fish eyes as well just dampen a rag with olive oil and wipe down the dash and leather and it does wonders and if there's to much dish soap will remove the excess as well for car shows mix sugar and water for your tires it gives them the proper sheen like new rubber...

Would be good to see you weld up the sillls/inners on that Ka. Would help others keep theirs on the road!

Hey Trev, the coconut oil is great but the plastic has a petroleum origin, next time you do this trick, try some pure Vaseline and apply exactly the same way. I think you notice that the shine will last longer. I've been using Vaseline on dashes for years and it seems to slow down the aging. Cheers

yeah I agree it's like a reintroduction of that oxidized layer which has lost some of its binders with the solids and just melting fusing that fibrous looking faded material back together into one again surface. looks good, good repair.

I had to do quite a bit of metal work on my red '04 Jeep Liberty. Replaced the rocker panels and had to weld new metal on the fender bottoms. Anyway, while I had the plastic flares and bumpers off. I decided to paint them. I never cared for the dark gray. I found a Dupli-Color Trim and Bumper paint in black. It's been a year and a half and still looks great. Just another option.

Thanks for this one, Trev. Really useful. My otherwise very fine 205, with standard dark grey bumpers, has this issue. So when temperatures exceed 10 degrees Celsius, hopefully soon, I will give both bumpers, door handles and other now light grey plastic parts a shot of this.

It seems like a great way to put life back into plastic. Worth a try. As you point out try it on a small part first. Great video,Trev.

Hi Trev! glad to see you on the Tube again and that is a wonderful tip. Thank you!!! Looking forward to see more videos from you.

Funnily enough Trev, a valeter showed me this trick 18 years ago!! Cheers. Leigh.

Oh man, my browser suddenly refreshed and I lost my epistle I was leaving here, on topic, but also to help with Trev's position in the algorithm... Brief version: nice trick:) heating up plastic drives out softeners and thus makes more brittle, but this trick only heats up the outer few micron, not the whole thing. So indeed: this trick will not make the bumper more brittle. Perhaps applying the appropriate softener before heating could effectively rejuvenate the plastic? Dunno how to find and buy the respective softeners tho. Why not linseed oil instead of coconut? (coconut oil production is not friendly for mommy nature at all) cheers!

Cheers Trev, nice one i might give it a go on some plastic trim

🙈🙉🙊What a relief! I was thinking I would have to put the lime in the coconut...🌴 can now save for cocktail hour🍸. Thanks for sharing.

I recently bought a variable temperature heat gun, 50 to 600'c for similar jobs, had a 90s 1600w gun that was just too hot, lent a mate's DeWalt gun, digital read out/setting impressed me & element cool down feature So bought a cheaper Wagner version ( not Robert!) You can get plastics just the right temp 😁👍

Mine had thick grey coating from years of Armorall or some other wax product and UV. You could scrape through it with your fingernails. Heat didn't do anything but make it turn whiter. I used Scotchbrite and purple power to get the coating off. Then the heat worked great. Thanks for the tip. Have a great day.

Great tip trev keep them coming.

Hi Trev, I thought it might bring the oils in the plastic up to the service may be wrong, My sons front bumper was all twisted after ripping half off got it caught on a ramp, I used heat gun to bring it back to shape, this also made me notice the color change. You mentioning a Valeter trick,this brought back a memory that was deeply hidden in my mind. I used to wash 20-30-fort court cars and Valet some from time to time in the 80s ,even putting on the go fast stripes and white walling on Tyre`s many years ago and the tricks we used to make the car looking new was unbelievable, But one thing stuck in my head When summer season came and some cars for the fort court needed to be brought in and valeted ,but on drying the vehicles were shouted at by not doing the correct procedure with the windows that I never forgot to this day, Wind window down all the way then wipe the top of glass, then wind up all the way then clean the rest, If this was not done this way with the windows after washing the cars then shammey leather dry ,then T cut then polish ,blacken Tyre's Valet inertia if needed then put out on the fort court, Then when the window got wound down to air the cars water from the top of the window came running down the glass and on the body work and dried quick leaving a water stain stuck out like a sore thumb, because if the window was never wound down first and wiped then it would hold water above in the door strip held in by the top of the glass, And when you had 20 -30 cars to wash and shammey leather them within a few hours this could be a timely and unsightly mistake to make, How tricks of the trade may been forgotten stick in the mind that may be helpful to others today,

I like the bit about the cocoa cream to preserve the plastic.

Brilliant fix I have been looking at painting my side trims and bumpers but il do this . Thank you 👍🏻

The only treatment I've found to work with any longevity is external furniture oil. Used it on a Ducato annually.

I once saw someone do this and use lard as a conditioner.. Great tip mate! Cheers!

coconut cream as a dressing who knew? Great tip

Great tip Trev, I had heard about this but never seen it in action. Kind regards Paul

I've always used a product called "Penetrol" sold here in the US. It's a paint additive. Cheap, and it lasts for years. There is a marine version with UV inhibitors, but I've never tried it. My quart container that cost $8 has lasted ten years, and the exterior plastic parts I've used it on have required recoating only after five years, so I'm satisfied. I like the environmental friendliness of the coconut oil, however, so I may try that in the future. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for shairng this one I knew sice time I drove normal cars. Cheers Trev. 🍻

Love your work good ideas u have sometimes . I’ve been doing the trade for a decade now and painting getting my feet wet in painting . Panel work is one of the best trades gotta have a good eye for detail common sense accurate work . Love your channel mate see a lot of American guy just replace panels . Here in Australia we repair mostly unless it’s beyond repair. Also we do resto work mainly

Great demo. I'm going to give it a try myself. Thx.

I've done this before, the coconut oil is a great idea!!!

I have heard that those old skool paint stripping guns are the safest way to strip paint on a tresured classic, avoiding problems not removing paint stripper, of acid dips continuing to eat the car after the neutralising only worked 99.9%, and what does ever work 100%? I got a really powerful hot air gun from Aldi a couple of years back, so cheap and good, heating up housings, even starting a wood fire in the house, the combination of heat and wind on a smoldering bit of wood gets it going a treat. So open up those old fireplaces and save a bomb on electric as well!

I have always done it with a propane torch (easy to mess up for a first timer though) but the coconut oil is something I'll try next time.

Thanks for the very helpful video Trev.

Clever trick that one , used the Air HAmmer today for the first time Trev ,got a fold sharper than a pair of pants off the Love Boat .Trouble was I needed a gentle radius ,stupid boy ,all practice eh ,plasmas getting a tanning as well

I used Owatrol Polytrol oil, and lasts a good while.

Great video. Our cars haven’t faded yet, so I’ll file that one away. Would that technique do anything for the yellowed headlight lenses? Also, coconut oil melts at very low temps. It might be easier to apply if you put the jar in a pot of warm water first. Here in British Columbia we don’t have extremely hot weather, but if it gets into the mid to high 30s* C it becomes a clear liquid. I love watching your intro and post video with your beautiful metal work. You inspired me to make new splash panels that attach to the frame of my 1948 Chevy 2 ton truck.

Coconut oil is too exotic for me, I always used linseed oil on plastic bumpers. Works a treat.

Melting can bring new plastic to the surface as you suggest. Heat can also break the bond and drive off oxygen molecules. Interesting to think about! I would say that in order to bring new plastic to the surface that would require sufficient heat to actually deform the plastic

Thank you for your hard work this year teaching us, Merry Christmas to you and your family, looking forward to watching you next year.

Neat trick - and cheap!

This is a typical "trick" of the car detailing industry. The heat is bringing the oils from the main body of the plastic to the surface. I've use cocoanut oil myself, but I also use the aerospace 303 spray. Plastic breaks because it had been exposed for far too long to UV light before "repairs" were initiated. As you say. it would have snapped anyway. Nice one Trev!

I have used this method in the past and using a Plastic Uv Protectant Spray after the heat gun makes it last a lot longer.

Very good job

Thats a neat trick 😉.

Brilliant !!

3M Finishing Glaze restores the darkness the plastic without heating...unlike others does not leave white stains on it (so no need to cover plastic parts while polishing paint).

Great tip Trev. What sort of temp do you set the heat gun at for starters ?

Clever that 👍

‘ ever since’ I a popular saying in the repair industry in Australia 🇦🇺

been doin this for many years, had some good...... some average results, probably depends on the quality of the plastic bumper you start with, never heard of the coconut oil stuff like so im going to try that next time cheers

You could use peanut butter and it works just as good and like you said in about six months it would fade a little. When I work at a BMW dealership and that's what we would do . I wouldn't use the heat but your a body man so you know what your doing

I had no real luck with the heat method, I got a bit carried away, I have used something along the lines of acetone, wipe on in uniform lines, it melts the surface and evaporates quickly, also works to recondition plastic headlight lenses, but only one wipe at a time with a lint free cloth, wipe in one direction ONCE, let plastic set up again, (couple of minutes) then wipe next bit, repeat until finished, if you mess it up you can sort it with wet and dry sanding. plenty on here about that.

Works even better with a large blow lamp, search on u tube for examples, great trick to have though.

Really nice trick. Will this work with a 1100 watts hairdryer? I don't have a heat gun. What do you recommend instead? Thx

I have to ask. Do you use it to style your hair as well?

That was impressive, when are you making the sills welding repair video?

Used to work for Ford and we had a NEW KA in,with one body colour and one grey bumper..It was never noticed at build or onwards.... 😢

First time viewing. 2005 bumper needs lots of tlc. It looked like a heat gun you were using, anything special about it? Thank you

How long does the coconut oil last on it? I wash my car very often. Thanks Trev!!

Trev off subject , but can you tell me please ,I have a white Transit converted to a camper and I want to spray the bottom section grey with single stage , my question is how do I loose the line being as there is not a gap to loose it it and I don't really want to laquer it . Hope you can help kind regards Mark

And the coconut oil may keep skeeters away 😅

Works better with a plumbers torch (naked flame) and wd40 for afterwards lol leave your wife's coconut oil alone 😂

it looks more faded after, actually

👍👍😎👍👍

Will look horrible in a year, even worse in two.... did this to all my plastics on the 32b three years ago - never again. Try Sonax, compared several of these products and this one holds best.

Your still alive then boy 😂

Meu deus foi fabricado FORD KA nos eua não sabia .e a música me lembrou essa hahaha ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jyMhCqF34Mg.html

Thumbs#801.No one knows how it works Trev,it just does.lol. Thanks mate.(com#100.hay!!)