A tip for faded plastic vs painting

[Calabash]

Hello.....

I found a little tip that I thought I would share w/my fellow X'ers.

If you use a heat gun on your plastic pieces it will burn the oxidation off and bring the black out in it again...I did this with my wifes Jeep Wrangler fender flares and they went from nasty faded gray to black again!
Now, I will tell you this some of the worst was hard to get to look good again and this is by no means *perfect* It does however make the plastic look much better....watch this youtube vid.

You Tube

You Tube

[TJTJ]

I believe it would not burn off oxidation, but would instead simply cause the pigmented plasticizers to migrate to the surface of the plastic...restoring the color.

[drbandkgb]

OMG thats amazing... Sarcasm works every time

No really This has been covered 20 times.. In the past.. To me painting just looks better..
This seems like a very lazy way of doing it.. Id say you would see lines from the heat gun...

BUT! What works for you is the best option.. Thanks for sharing

[Kenny-g]

I guess if your parents or friend has a heat gun and you had a free afternoon this could be an easy and free way of doing it but it doesn't stay that "black" for very long anyways...

[Xterraforce]

Thanks for the video link. I've read that a lot of people have done this but actually seeing it done before I try it myself was very helpful.

[TJTJ]

Generally, when you use a technique that migrates the plasticizers to the surface, the plastic becomes more brittle, as the plasticizers are what provide most of the flexibility.

The surface plasticizers then fade in the sunlight and from ozone, etc, and the plastic fades again...hence the reference to it not lasting very long.

[Xterraforce]

Good point TJ. I didn't think about that. Maybe I'll just keep spraying what I've been using on them until I can afford some real bumpers.

[Calabash]

thanks TJ I will keep that in mind, I should have my X out of the shop soon after my wreck, getting a new ARB bumper and everything on the front plastic(s) will be new and the back stuff will be looking old, I may just order new stuff so it wont be so mismatched.

[J Everett]

I did the heat gun thing once. It lasted less than six months. I prefer to use Black Wow once a year now.

[Heavus]

painting is better/easier/more bad assier.