Water spots in vinyl stripes

[RacerX]

I know that this is the "paint" correction and polishing section, but it seemed the appropriate place to ask about this.

A friend showed me his car which has water spots in the vinyl stripes.  He has already tried claying the stripes and hand-rubbing some compound, but it hasn't made any difference.

I thought I would try asking here to see if anyone has had success getting water spots out of vinyl.

I tried taking photos from every possible angle, but the silver stripes seem to be too reflective for it to show up in pictures.

[Chris@Adams]

Revive Polish should remove them however it may make them a little shiny.

When you get the water spots removed I would protect them with our Ceramic Spray.

[Norton]

The Caring for Factory Vinyl Stripes thread and How to treat factory vinyl stripes video contain a wealth of info about restoring/caring for vinyl stripes.

 

I usually avoid clay and compound on vinyl, since those are somewhat aggressive and can make a bad situation worse. Before I ceramic coated my Shelby, including its matte black vinyl stripes, I had good results lightly polishing imperfections in its vinyl stripes, with White Foam Pads and Finishing Polish and/or Brilliant Glaze.  Revive Hand Polish on a Blue Hex Grip Applicator might also do the trick.

[SgtLip]

44 minutes ago, Norton said:

The Caring for Factory Vinyl Stripes thread and How to treat factory vinyl stripes video contain a wealth of info about restoring/caring for vinyl stripes.

 

I usually avoid clay and compound on vinyl, since those are somewhat aggressive and can make a bad situation worse. Before I ceramic coated my Shelby, including its matte black vinyl stripes, I had good results lightly polishing imperfections in its vinyl stripes, with White Foam Pads and Finishing Polish and/or Brilliant Glaze.  Revive Hand Polish on a Blue Hex Grip Applicator might also do the trick.

 

Have a color change vinyl wrap on complete car. So the same rule applies, no clay  and compound on vinyl? The Yellow is Gloss and the Black is Satin unless it is the factory plastic.

 

See my original question: 

 

[Norton]

5 hours ago, SgtLip said:

 

Have a color change vinyl wrap on complete car. So the same rule applies, no clay  and compound on vinyl? The Yellow is Gloss and the Black is Satin unless it is the factory plastic.

 

See my original question: 

 

To be fair, I'd say this is less of a rule and more of YMMV thing...

 

Clay and compound come in differing levels of aggressiveness/abrasiveness, and I know some CAN mar painted finishes (e.g., the Clay Mitt can cause minor swirls/marring - easily polished out of painted surfaces, but probably not as easy to eliminate from vinyl). I didn't want to risk marring the stripes at all, so I avoided claying them. I don't think I know anyone who's compounded their stripes, but I have a couple of acquaintances who claim to have successfully clayed theirs. My guess is they used something like Visco Clay that's "safe for even the most delicate clear coat." In the end, you should always use the least aggressive method that achieves the result you want. In my experience, Dylan's advice in the How to treat factory vinyl stripes video was spot-on.

[SgtLip]

10 hours ago, Norton said:

To be fair, I'd say this is less of a rule and more of YMMV thing...

 

Clay and compound come in differing levels of aggressiveness/abrasiveness, and I know some CAN mar painted finishes (e.g., the Clay Mitt can cause minor swirls/marring - easily polished out of painted surfaces, but probably not as easy to eliminate from vinyl). I didn't want to risk marring the stripes at all, so I avoided claying them. I don't think I know anyone who's compounded their stripes, but I have a couple of acquaintances who claim to have successfully clayed theirs. My guess is they used something like Visco Clay that's "safe for even the most delicate clear coat." In the end, you should always use the least aggressive method that achieves the result you want. In my experience, Dylan's advice in the How to treat factory vinyl stripes video was spot-on.

 

I need to watch the video again. My wife was watching TV so I had it turned real low. So I'll review it again. Thanks for the input.

[RayS]

6 hours ago, SgtLip said:

 

I need to watch the video again. My wife was watching TV so I had it turned real low. So I'll review it again. Thanks for the input.

I have watched some of the video's multiple times and have even taken the iPad to the garage and had the video fired up while I was working on a vehicle.  The video's can be a great way to learn and see how others are doing a task.