# WD40 Detailing?



## Kristian87 (Jun 23, 2019)

Not planned, but me and a friend ended up detailing another friends mustang yesterday - he's got satin black vinyl stripes.

We got the car clean, light clay with a clay mitt, then finished off with some nice ceramic wax - looked lovely! Only trouble was the stripes...

The sun was in & out all day, and where the soap had dried on the vinyl, there were a few unsightly water marks. Detail spray helped a little but not perfect, then out came a plastic dressing as a test - made things worse. We were limited for options as it was just what my mate had available in the garage. The owner then pipes up and whips out a can of WD40, and applied to all the vinyl stripes with a microfibre. I cannot fault the results - the stripes looked immaculate! I was shocked but impressed, but the detailer in me just thought it was all wrong.

He then hit all of the matte plastics, again they came up nice. Even the gloss black plastic decklid got it - looked spotless - you know the stuff that scratches when you look at it.

So is this a thing? Does anyone else use WD40 to detail? I'd never dare do anything like that with mine, but mainly because its an unknown to me, so I'm curious to know if anyone else does this? Is it a great idea? A stupid one?


----------



## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

Id say a little stupid as every possibility WD40 could losen or remove the vinyl by damaging the adhisive that bonds it.


----------



## Derek Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

Rian said:


> Id say a little stupid as every possibility WD40 could losen or remove the vinyl by damaging the adhisive that bonds it.


I have to be honest that is my thoughts too,,, curious to know though as it does seem to find favour on almost every topic, subject and material known to man


----------



## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

It's a bit like his registration plate. It's not quite right. :lol:


----------



## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

Try it on engine bay plastics..


----------



## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

I guess the black gloss plastic looked good because the light oil in WD40 filled them in (very temporarily).

When it rains it will probably look a mess again and may wash down onto the paintwork below.

He may end up with an oil slick on his bonnet!

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


----------



## Kristian87 (Jun 23, 2019)

Derek Mc said:


> I have to be honest that is my thoughts too,,, curious to know though as it does seem to find favour on almost every topic, subject and material known to man


Yes, didn't think about the glue aspect. Seeing as it was his own car, I wasn't going to stop him. He's a body shop guy, and very oldschool - he actually wanted to get some 3000 grit out to sharpen up the paintwork! Needless to say, his introduction to claying with a clay mitt went down well.

Very curious to see how it holds up, especially in the wet!

I'll be sure to report back if he lets me know


----------



## BradleyW (May 4, 2015)

Only ever used WD40 once on some plastic trim to help remove a polish stain which had been there over a year.


----------



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

WD40 is a strong cleaner in its own right, because its good at loosening and displacing other substances. It will often succesfully remove staining where other cleaners have failed

But ...You really do have to be carefull with it tho and test a small area first, simply because it is a strong chemical which will attack and go to work on any surface you spray it on.


----------



## No04BLE (Jun 8, 2014)

I have seen a few people using WD40 for tar removal. Not something I would do personally but it worked.


----------



## \Rian (Aug 23, 2017)

No04BLE said:


> I have seen a few people using WD40 for tar removal. Not something I would do personally but it worked.


Exactly so if it dissolves tar think about what its going to do to the adhesive on a vinyl wrap


----------



## AnthonyUK (Jul 25, 2018)

Aahhh. WD-40 is possibly the most misused product ever.


----------



## GleemSpray (Jan 26, 2014)

People misuse WD-40 as a lubricant: it's not a lubricant, its a loosener and will evaporate away quite quickly.

Once you have loosened that stuck hinge / padlock etc, you really need to then clean and apply a grease or oil based lubricant which will stay put.


----------



## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

Rian said:


> Exactly so if it dissolves tar think about what its going to do to the adhesive on a vinyl wrap


Spray it on a balloon and the balloon wil pop after a few seconds.


----------



## organgrinder (Jan 20, 2008)

A few of the proper car tar removers smell very like WD40 as does the stuff you get to remove glue after taking off labels.

Used once it probably won't do any harm but it wouldn't be something i'd use regularly on stripes.


----------



## v_r_s (Nov 4, 2018)

Think forensic detailing or someone did, a vid on YouTube and altho WD-40 worked for tar it wasn't as good as the dedicated products


----------



## Kristian87 (Jun 23, 2019)

Consensus seems to be a bad idea as I suspected!

So what do people use for Vinyl stripes out of interest then? As I said, the detail spray seemed to fail here at shifting water marks. Koch FSE? Still not tried that stuff yet.


----------



## AnthonyUK (Jul 25, 2018)

WD-40 is mainly solvent and a bit if thin oil. The solvent us good at removing tar but you are left with the oil and for the vinyl the reverse is true so just use some thin oil but a silicon based vinyl care product will probably be better.


----------



## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

If they're gloss vinyl then some autoglym srp should remove any water marks and bring up a nice shine.


----------



## westerman (Oct 12, 2008)

As WD40 is a penetrating oil/lubricant it does leave me aghast when I read of people using the stuff as above. Somewhere on Youtube there's a guy suggesting you treat your dash and interior with it:doublesho.

There are so many dedicated products starting at very low prices that will do the job safely so why anyone would want to use penetrating oil is beyond me.

Harry


----------

