Help. What did I do wrong?

[DanITD]

Just finished my friends 2020 Denali, full ceramic coating. 
looked incredible for first two weeks, but now all the coated trim has gone milky white!! He’s (understandably) freaked, as am I. 
Anyone have suggestions?

How can I fix this?

[falcaineer]

Could've been in the prep stage in that the trim wasn't fully cleaned. Hard to tell.

 

Unfortunately, I don't know of a way to remove it to correct the steaks, and the coating does bond to hard plastic. That said, Ceramic Black Trim Restorer is the best option I can think of, but you would have to do all trim for it to match because it will be black/darker afterwards. And it may take a few layers.

[DanITD]

Thanks Falcaineer. 
 

(I did see your response immediately, and appreciate your insight) I did use a popular brand name paint prep solution that I have bulk supply of before applying the coating. Apparently it is not compatible with Adams though?

 

I’ve been chasing info all day yesterday, trying to find out about removing ceramic coatings from trim. There is surprisingly little beyond  the typical “compound and polish”, which obviously won’t do me any good in this case. 
I decided to ceramic coat my black plastic pressure washer, and start experimenting with different chemicals to see if I can remove the coating without damaging the plastic. (Sort of a sacrificial lamb)

Mythbusters would be proud!
 

Early results are encouraging, and the cool thing about Adams UV Ceramic is indeed the “UV” aspect of it. I’ve sectioned off parts of the washer, and begun applying different solutions to each. A quick follow up with the UV light quickly confirms where the coating is still intact. 
 

I’ll keep updating this post as I go. My hope and intent is to find a way to SAFELY remove the coating and go a different direction with treating the trim. (Looks like I have 3 vehicles with this issue to fix. If I’m honest, it’s making me very gun shy.)
I did look into the Trim Restorer at your suggestion, but after reading some of the reviews, I’m not sure that it’s a permanent option, especially on this brand new truck. (I’ll keep it in mind for Plan B.)

 

Has anyone else run into this issue?

 

 

[falcaineer]

1 hour ago, DanITD said:

I did look into the Trim Restorer at your suggestion, but after reading some of the reviews, I’m not sure that it’s a permanent option, especially on this brand new truck. (I’ll keep it in mind for Plan B.)

 

The Ceramic version?  It's certainly a long-term solution. I would be careful about polishing plastic, lest you change the sheen, texture, etc., and have to do it all the way around the truck.

 

 

[RayS]

@DanITD According to what the solution was that you used for the Prep, you may have basically bleached the trim.  I don't know a better way to describe it, but some chemicals on the trim or certain pieces of plastic or rubber get an effect of bleaching.    I just took this picture of the back bumper of my truck and notice the hitch step has an almost white center.   It was originally black, but when I was preparing the truck for CSC, I couldn't get that part clean, so I used an alcohol based solution, about two weeks later it changed colors.    The bumper has been coated with CSC for about a year, it was never touched with any prep, just well cleaned.   I do the same on all the vehicles with trim since I've had so many outcomes with with different prep products on trim.

 

Once you get the ceramic off it, the trim restore should bring the trim back to the factory condition, just use multiple thin layers and let it dry between coatings.  If I'm working on trim that needs to be restored and then coated, I tend to let it sit for multiple hours before I apply the coating, again, I do not use any "ceramic prep" chemical on the trim before coating it.

 

 

Edited June 28, 2020 by RayS

[Rich]

Key word.......DRY.  

[The Guz]

Adam just covered trim restoration on facebook.  

 

Is that rear bumper rubber or hard plastic?

 

 

[falcaineer]

Good video posted by @The Guz above, with plenty of useful info - especially use of Trim Prep or TRC to clean the trim. Only thing I'd caution is that it's not about how to correct what's been done. I am afraid polishing will alter the look of the trim beyond desire, including changing the texture. It's possible the Trim Restorer won't work either since since the coating has bonded and likely sealed the pores, but I don't know what else I'd recommend. Let us know what you decide to do and the results...

[DanITD]

17 hours ago, RayS said:

@DanITD According to what the solution was that you used for the Prep, you may have basically bleached the trim.  

 

Awesome insight. Thank you. 
(I had used Gyeon Prep on entire vehicle before applying coating)

I appreciate your advice on remedying, and will update the thread as I solve it. 

[DanITD]

18 minutes ago, falcaineer said:

Good video posted by @The Guz above, with plenty of useful info - especially use of Trim Prep or TRC to clean the trim. Only thing I'd caution is that it's not about how to correct what's been done. I am afraid polishing will alter the look of the trim beyond desire, including changing the texture. It's possible the Trim Restorer won't work either since since the coating has bonded and likely sealed the pores, but I don't know what else I'd recommend. Let us know what you decide to do and the results...

Thanks @falcaineer. 
 

I agree, and had no intent of polishing. 
(I reread my post from earlier, and do understand how I might have mislead in my intentions.  Most information on YouTube is how to compound and polish coating off of paint, which does me no good since it’s trim I’m having trouble with.)

I was seeking ways to chemically remove it from trim, which led to my experimentation on my “black plastic” pressure washer. 
 

Adams Support has reached out with some advice and direction, and I feel somewhat encouraged about removing and fixing the problem. 
 

I will update as I go. It’s not a happy feeling, and if I can save someone else heartache.......:.

[DanITD]

12 hours ago, Rich said:

Key word.......DRY.  

Noted. 
thanks!

[falcaineer]

2 hours ago, DanITD said:

Adams Support has reached out with some advice and direction, and I feel somewhat encouraged about removing and fixing the problem. 

 

What did they say? I'm unaware of any chemical means to remove a coating.

[07stanggt]

Didn't know you had to follow up with the ceramic coat, great video !

[DaleH]

Watching that vid reminded me of one of the most deflating details I've ever done. We went to a picnic with my wife's friend/hair dresser. She drove a black 4Runner that was all destroyed. White paint scuffs from getting too close to the garage door etc. Because my wife loves me and knows how much I enjoy fixing disasters she offered up my services in trade for a cut and color... I  spent 8 hours getting that thing mint which was a total pain because it had at least three different paints that all took completely different combinations to get good results. All the swirls, scratches, and scuffs came out. It was beautiful. When they came to pick it up the ONLY thing they talked about was how good the plastics looked on the running boards. Even when my wife went to get her hair done that was all that she heard about. So moral of the story, the trim really makes an impression.

 

Can't wait to see this end as a happy story. Good Luck DanIDT.

[falcaineer]

10 minutes ago, DaleH said:

Watching that vid reminded me of one of the most deflating details I've ever done. We went to a picnic with my wife's friend/hair dresser. She drove a black 4Runner that was all destroyed. White paint scuffs from getting too close to the garage door etc. Because my wife loves me and knows how much I enjoy fixing disasters she offered up my services in trade for a cut and color... I  spent 8 hours getting that thing mint which was a total pain because it had at least three different paints that all took completely different combinations to get good results. All the swirls, scratches, and scuffs came out. It was beautiful. When they came to pick it up the ONLY thing they talked about was how good the plastics looked on the running boards. Even when my wife went to get her hair done that was all that she heard about. So moral of the story, the trim really makes an impression.

 

Can't wait to see this end as a happy story. Good Luck DanIDT.

 

8 hours in trade. Must've been one heckuva hair cut!

[DaleH]

Just now, falcaineer said:

heckuva hair cut

It's not the cut part that costs...

[falcaineer]

15 minutes ago, DaleH said:

It's not the cut part that costs...

 

Oh, tell me about it. Two teenage daughters...

[DanITD]

39 minutes ago, DaleH said:

 So moral of the story, the trim really makes an impression.

 

Can't wait to see this end as a happy story. Good Luck DanIDT.

Cheers to that!

thank you so much,

 

dan. 

[RayS]

7 hours ago, falcaineer said:

 

Oh, tell me about it. Two teenage daughters...

You think it's expensive as teenagers, just wait until you are paying for their cars and college.  One went to Clemson and the other to the real USC - University of South Carolina.  Did I mention we still have a couple years left on the Chef's school loans.  Did I mention also mention mine are only 18 months apart.

 

@DanITD - looking forward to your updates.  I have no problem running a test or two on the hitch step, it's an inexpensive part and as you can tell it doesn't match my bumper now.

[DanITD]

Thanks all. 
 

I’ll update once I get my order in and my hands on the truck again. (Owner lives 4 hours away)

I’ll take pics of whole process. 

[mc2hill]

On 6/30/2020 at 11:35 AM, DaleH said:

Watching that vid reminded me of one of the most deflating details I've ever done. We went to a picnic with my wife's friend/hair dresser. She drove a black 4Runner that was all destroyed. White paint scuffs from getting too close to the garage door etc. Because my wife loves me and knows how much I enjoy fixing disasters she offered up my services in trade for a cut and color... I  spent 8 hours getting that thing mint which was a total pain because it had at least three different paints that all took completely different combinations to get good results. All the swirls, scratches, and scuffs came out. It was beautiful. When they came to pick it up the ONLY thing they talked about was how good the plastics looked on the running boards. Even when my wife went to get her hair done that was all that she heard about. So moral of the story, the trim really makes an impression.

 

Can't wait to see this end as a happy story. Good Luck DanIDT.

 

Not trying to make this a generalization, but most of my female customers want - clean wheels with a nice shine on the tire, dark trim, and clean interiors. 

 

The detail project I finished yesterday started with a lot of vacuuming in a Infinity QX60 (3 kids all playing sports), and getting the rest of the interior sorted - this was the part for the Mom.  Yesterday I returned to do the part that the Dad wanted - polish to make it shiny, remove some 'stuck' magnets, and put protection on.  Mom was happy I could 'erase' most of the 'oops' in the paint.

[BrianT]

Take this with a gram of salt.  My 07 Jeep GC has a plastic bumper topper that is pretty grey.  I wanted to coat it, but not until I used trim restore on it.  I put multiple thin coats on and it turned out great.  To me coating it after the restore dried for a day or two seemed too soon.  The restore looked too wet, so two weeks and two car washes later I coated the plastic.  

My point is, this may take multiple visits to get it back.  I would let the customer know you will make it right, but it will take multiple visits.

[B Hicks - Irving, Texas]

I purchased a new Ford Ranger Tremor 4X4 and had the EXACT thing happen to my vehicle.  They only applied the ceramic coating to the paint, wheels, and glass and avoided the black plastic trip of the bumper and truckbed caps.  BUT where the applicator touched those plastic parts, it became that milky white color about 2 days later after UV exposure.  I had my entire Ford Mustang (including the plastic) coated and this did not happen, but it did on the Ranger.  Did you come up with a solution or find out why this happened?

[RayS]

From what I have been able to tell from the vehicles I have done it is comes down to the plastic used in the trim.  You can get vehicles from the same manufacturer, such as the Mustang and Ranger, but they use different plastics.  What I do now and have avoided the problem is that I make sure I get the edges of the trim with the Surface Prep, therefore I know it is clean.

 

I try as much as possible to avoid touching the trim, but I have no doubt that I'm still touching it once in a while.  So when I start removing the coating after it has flashed, I start with the trim, do the rest of the panel and go over the trim a second time to make sure I caught any high spots.  Using this technique has prevented any problems, but there is also no guarantee that I have had one the vehicles with the plastic that causes it.

 

On a vehicle that I was pretty sure would have the problem, I used some old Index cards that I had and held them against the trim as I went along with the applicator.  This was a bit of a pain, but easier than trying to tape the trim.  You just have to make sure you always keep the side that is getting some coating on it away from the trim otherwise you'll defeat the purpose.  I had used the Index card method  pre-Adam's years ago when I was using a wax that would leave the white marks that you couldn't get off the trim.

[DanITD]

2 hours ago, B Hicks - Irving, Texas said:

I purchased a new Ford Ranger Tremor 4X4 and had the EXACT thing happen to my vehicle.  They only applied the ceramic coating to the paint, wheels, and glass and avoided the black plastic trip of the bumper and truckbed caps.  BUT where the applicator touched those plastic parts, it became that milky white color about 2 days later after UV exposure.  I had my entire Ford Mustang (including the plastic) coated and this did not happen, but it did on the Ranger.  Did you come up with a solution or find out why this happened?

I am so sorry this happened to you. It is both heartbreaking and infuriating at the same time. I know. 
 

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any consensus or conclusion as to how it happened, or why. 
Adams couldn’t replicate it testing on their vehicles, and unfortunately.... the suggested products to remedy the problem were short term at best. 
 

I had four vehicles that were impacted. The GMC, a Ram, a Subaru and a Buick. 
I had to swallow hard and am now re-coating their trim on a regular basis, averaging 3 times a year. At my cost. 

I have had to move on (brand) and have done vehicles since, using all the same processes, without having that issue. 
 

Feel free to DM me with specific questions if I can help further.