Mucky stripes down the sills... Cleaning tips? Prevention?

[crazyj]

Hi Guys,

Gave the old girl a clean. She came up a treat... Apart from an unsightly stripe of grime down the sill between the front and rear doors... Obviously where all the mucky water runs down.

Scrubbed with detergent... Still there. Polished with 'back to black'...still there after a day or so.

Hm m.

Even wondered about some silvery sill mouldings from superskoda...but they don't cover it..in fact I the pic that they have of a red pre facelift they have on their site you can see the same mucky strip.

Any thoughts?

Cheers

J

[Llanigraham]

Don't know.

Mine's been like it for 5 years.

 

I found the answer is to keep it covered with mud!

[silver1011]

When the dealer sprays lubricant into the front door locks / mechanism it dribbles down the door and then over the sill.

 

Dust and dirt then sticks to the wet grease / lubricant and then it dries.

 

Post here for a myriad of options on the best way to remove it!

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/8-styling-and-car-care/

[GeoffH]

Further to silver1011's post.... I always ask dealer not to lube the door hinges because of the enthusiasm some of the leads have when they have an oil an or spray lube in hand! I do it myself and sparingly.

[crazyj]

Hmmm never considered door lube as the culprit!

[Dinski]

You should put thus in the car care section, but to answer your question I use a sealant hellshine abyss, it's expensive so as an alternative you could use sonax bsd which is a quick detailer / sealant. This will solve your problem plus use it all over your car and it will be really well protected.

[crazyj]

Thanks...will check them out.

Cheers

J

[KBPhoto]

I was wondering exactly this last time I cleaned my Yeti. Will keep an eye on this thread for any positive news.

[4 wheel driver]

I have tried many things of the' back to black' type products. All proved unsatisfactory. Even tried black shoe polish which also failed .

Car Plan Black Trim Wax works. Easy to apply and lasts. Used on bumpers,door rubbing strips, sills and roof rack rails. Highly recommended. Not expensive, bottle lasts for ages. Bought it on line. Google search should find supplier.

[KBPhoto]

Wonder if Gtecniq Permanent Trim Restorer wod sort it out?

[FlintstoneR1]

I have tried many things of the' back to black' type products. All proved unsatisfactory. Even tried black shoe polish which also failed .

Car Plan Black Trim Wax works. Easy to apply and lasts. Used on bumpers,door rubbing strips, sills and roof rack rails. Highly recommended. Not expensive, bottle lasts for ages. Bought it on line. Google search should find supplier.

Acting on this recommendation, I bought a 375ml bottle of this during the week. £4.68 from Euro Car Parts delivered to my door. Not had chance to use it yet due to rain and the fact SWMBO has commandeered Yeti (again!) to go shopping in York. (Uh - Oh!).  The product contents do smell uncannily like boot polish though!

 

The sweet irony of the recommendation to my mind though - is that the picture on the bottle's label - is of the left rear view - of a Yeti!   Seems like the two products are made for each other then!

[4 wheel driver]

Agreed,It does smell like liquid boot polish.

However having tried boot polish which was unsuccessful logic suggests there must be a difference. One works,the other doesn't.

You've given me food for thought though....... If it's that much better on Yeti trim how good could it be on boots&shoes!! One coat of polish could last a lifetime. Eureka !

By now you will have had time to try it and I hope you are impressed with the results.

[crazyj]

Well, I bought some car plan black trim wax.

I cleaned the yeti, dried it and applied the wax to the sills. It wiped on nicely then before my eyes the wax covering the mucky stripes just parted leaving the mucky stripes visible.

I got a toothbrush and tried lots of cleaning materials.... Detergent, meths, paraffin... No joy but it did shift to say me extent with vinegar.

That done I re-applied the wax.... It took two coats but it covers up the muck a treat.

Then I did the rear bumper ...then I did the front...It looks great.

Only problem now is that the roof bars are looking a bit faded......I've nearly used the whole bottle but you can't moan for six quid.

Only now to see how long it lasts...before it needs doing again.

Cheers

John

[g6zru]

Not had a need to try it myself but I'm sure I've seen somewhere, possibly elsewhere, that peanut butter works well as a cleaner on exterior plastics and you can eat any surplus!

 

Fred

[GeoffH]

Not had a need to try it myself but I'm sure I've seen somewhere, possibly elsewhere, that peanut butter works well as a cleaner on exterior plastics and you can eat any surplus!

 

Fred

Do you recommend using Smooth or Crunchy?! I used to sell the stuff and I always smashed my targets by miles... I was asked by my boss why I was always No1 ... My answer was simple but true.. I used to tell the customers i hated the stuff, as it stuck to the roof of your mouth and tasted awful, but it was on TV, the kids loved it, so it would sell ... If it didn't sell they could use it for undersealing their car as it was cheaper than the Zeibart system of rustproofing that was the in thing in the 70's! I'm not joking!

If it does work as suggested it will probably be the mild abrasive qualities combined with the nut oils.