Lighter fluid to clean exteior trim of polish

[Babajang]

I got some polish on my plastic trim recently and didn't get rid of it straight away (big mistake). The polish is next to impossible to shift using power washers / washing up liquid u name it.... Until I stumbled across a tip to use lighter fluid and a rag to rub it away..... guess what, it worked.

So I thought id give it a shot on my rubber trim around the windows which has become discolour with... mould or something - I've no idea. anyways I used a minimal amount and not much pressure and whilst it cleaned the rubber up nice it was making the white rag go very very black and i'm not exactly sure if this was dirt or the actual rubber, so I left it be at quick wipe.

either way, both the plastic and the rubber now looks immaculate.

[whiteDevil_170]

I'm not an expert but I'd say that the black u see on the rag was colour from the rubber, and I wouldn't use that personally. Did u try a dedicated trim restore product? I use auto finesse revive and iv found that using that after a normal wash would deffinalty remove any dried on polish if any was to get on.In future be careful when polishing.

[trix]

I'd agree, those seals are extremely delicate & will definitely need some restorer on them now, prolonged use with lighter fluid won't do them any good & may eat into the surface.
The best gentle thing to get wax & polish off trims & seals which will also add some natural oil & won't disolve them is peanut butter (crunchy or smooth is your choice )

[ZephyR]

Lighter fuel will eat in to the rubber but one brief application won't do any harm. The seals around the door / window are quite delicate and would benefit from something like Gummi pflege, which will also stop them squeaking.

The best gentle thing to get wax & polish off trims & seals which will also add some natural oil & won't disolve them is peanut butter (crunchy or smooth is your choice )

And then do you lick it off afterwards?

[Babajang]

Thanks for the replies, I definitely will get some rubber care liquids like what has been recommended, the rubber on my car has never looked cleaner but it has probably taken a very slight layer of the rubber off to achieve this!

I did hear of the peanut butter cleaning method... ill use this one next time for the rubber and keep the lighter fuel for the hard plastic bits if I ever get polish on them again.

The reason lighter fluid was recommended is because it evaporates almost instantly when spread over a surface. nothing stays within or on the rubber to deteriorate it further, but its no doubt aggressive for the second or so it sits on the surface!

[unbelievabledave]

Petrol based products melt rubber but I'm sure you won't have caused any lasting problem as lighter fluid evaporates quickly.

Lighter fluid is great for cleaning everything else though, especially removing stickers/sticker residue. Just soak them and then wipe off with paper towel.