CERAKOTE® Ceramic Trim Coat Kit - Quick Plastic Trim Restorer - Ceramic Coating Guaranteed Restoration to Last Over 200 Washes – A Ceramic Coating, Not a Dressing

I am thoroughly pleased with the results of this product, and the application was easier than I expected. Outstanding stuff. I am writing a longer review in case it helps people who are unsure about a "once and done" product that calls itself permanent. It's not hard to apply. It is forgiving and there's time to even it out. But here are some things to anticipate.My use case:I used Cerakote to restore the plastic trim on a used 2014 black Dodge Challenger that had been repainted but the plastic trim was original and it had been kept outside by the prior owner, so the contrast between the new paint and faded trim was noticeable. The trim was originally a deep, dark gray (it is never as black as the paint). It had faded to a medium-gray in many places: running boards on the side beneath the door, below the read bumper (which were also somewhat worn from debris), around the tail lights, and the plastic piece beneath the windshield wipers between the windshield and the hood. These were all looking weathered. The trim was very oxidized in some places, chalky grey near the hood and around the back bumper. The plastic around the tail lights also had light streaks in it from where water drains down from the trunk.What else I tried before I tried Cerakote:I got middling results from Mother's Back to Black. It looked somewhat better for a week or two, and then it went back to looking as before. Not impressed.I got a tip online to try rubbing the plastic trim with a melamine magic eraser, so I did that next, and this made a significant difference. Melamine is abrasive, so be careful if you do this on your trim. I went gently, up-and-down, side-to-side and in small circles, by hand, with gentle pressure like one would with a polishing compound. By removing the oxidation, the plastic was a few shades darker in the worst spots and the streaking on the rear tail light piece was gone. The rough spots on the trim at the bottom of the car and around the wheels looked somewhat better. But it certainly did not "like new."Cerakote experience:I decided to give Cerakote a try based on the video and good reviews. Bam! Back to factory-like deep dark gray. I wish I had taken pictures. It's incredible. Fully satisfied!I had already washed the trim with Dawn dish soap. I started with the trim bone dry. You are warned everywhere that water droplets will ruin the result, so don't expect to do this process right after you wash the car unless you like to live dangerously and have compressed air to spray cracks and crevices.I was worried that application would be streaky if I didn't do it right. Not so. It is forgiving. Here's what I learned.1) The first 20% of what you'll get out of the packet goes on heavy with the lightest touch. One packet goes a long way. The next 60% is the "normal" application. This goes on the easiest. You can really milk the last drop out of each towelette, but I didn't because the last 20% of what you can get out of it by rubbing it really hard comes out very light and is not worth the uneven application unless you have some random area you don't care much about and want to use the remainder for that. I only used 5 packets to do the whole car.When you start a new packet, the beginning is where you might want to go back later and even it out once the application gets more normal. Or better, start a new packet on a big section to spread it around well and then move to smaller trim when the towelette is less fresh.2) You've got time to work with it and make corrections. It stayed liquid like water for at least 20 minutes in my conditions: about 80 degrees, not very humid, indirect sunlight on an 80 degree car. Don't apply in direct sun or on a hot car. The product then gets sticky as it cures, but you can still work with it during the sticky time, rubbing it in and spreading it evenly with the towelette. I did not use a microfiber to "knock down" heavy spots. I just came back around with the towelette. I think a dry microfiber might pull off too much product. When it is half-cured, it is sticky and you can buff it with the towelette at this stage to further flatten and even things out. Work in sections, one piece of trim at a time.3) Overlaps won't show as long as you rub it all in thoroughly. I tried the overlapping parallel passes method that they recommend, and this works pretty well. I was worried that I might get a "double heavy" streak where the passes overlap but this not so unless the towelette is fresh, but this is fixable. You can do a pretty natural, casual back-and-forth motion for the most part and it comes out fine. This is NOT a super-finicky product. I made a second or third back-and-forth pass in a few areas, and used circular motion in some places where the trim was textured or a little rough from wear, and it all looked even in the end. Just rub it down into the plastic and even out the sheen while it is uncured and it's good.4) It cures like you see it when it's still wet. It doesn't lighten up very much as it cures. It just looks a little less wet. So get it right by eye when it is wet and that's pretty much what you will still have in an hour when it is cured.5) Don't miss a spot! You'll see it for sure if you do because the different is so dramatic. And a "second coat" is not easy or recommended. This is the only once-and-done part that you want to get right, and you have plenty of cure time to be thorough.6) Use the folded corner of the towelette to get into small corners and edges, like where the trim meets the paint or has an inside corner or some little nook. A fresh towelette is great for getting into small areas because a feather touch applies plenty of product when the towelette is fresh.The trim now looks amazing and I am entirely satisfied. I will use Cerakote on my other vehicles. The only minor con is a strong ammonia smell when you are up close to it while it is wet. No smell once it is cured. I would definitely wear the recommended gloves while applying. As others say, you will probably drop that towelette on the ground. It's slippery when wet. Keep it folded in quarters as it comes for ease of application. Turn to a new quarter once a side gets dirty or dry and fold it inside out for four more quarters to use.Bonus, but off-label -- at your own risk:The product is not intended for the soft rubber around the windows, but I tried it there too, and it looks amazing. All I did was wash the rubber with dish soap like the trim, and I rubbed it a few times with a wet microfiber cloth to get the superficial layer of oxidized rubber off. Then I applied Cerakote. It looks great.The rubber used to be blotchy and faded. The microfiber evened this out a little. I would not use melamine on the rubber -- this made it look worse in a test section. The Cerakote made it look great: jet black, much shiner, and much more even looking. Not quite "brand new" but far better than I thought possible. I thought I might need to replace the rubber. Now it's looking great next to the jet-black new paint. This afterthought use alone was worth the money.Can you apply a second coat the next day?They don't say you can, and I don't recommend it. This is meant to be one-shot, which is why you should check to make sure you don't miss any spots.I had two areas where I tried a second coat the next day. The first was on the plastic trim between the windshield and the hood. I didn't rub this trim much with melamine beforehand so there was a lighter area (light grey originally, the worst spot) that didn't get as black as the other sections so I did it again, which helped a little, but not much. I didn't wash this area with soap beforehand because I wasn't intending to fix it until I got going. Once you put things back to black you will start noticing other faded things more.Likewise, I did a second coat on the very top of the soft rubber at the bottom of the windows (the part which faces upward and thus gets the most sun), it wasn't as shiny as the other parts, so I went over that section gently again the next day with a fresh towelette.As soon as I did it, I thought it was a mistake. This didn't go well initially because the cured coating is very hydrophobic so the new, wet, Cerakote of the second coat goes on smooth initially and then "puddles up" into little droplets a few minutes later. It doesn't want to stick to the first coat. I thought I had messed it up, but I let it cure a little until the sticky phase, and spread it out again with the towelette. It stayed that time but gathered back a little into some streaks. I spread it once more a few minutes later and it looked good. It stayed even. It looks just fine a few days later, so I think it cured OK.I hope this product last for months as advertised. Even if it doesn't I would totally do it again because the results are superior, I still have half my towelettes left, and the product is not expensive. 10/10 would do again and will recommend to everyone.

The product itself works great. Turned my VW's trim from faded to original looking. Didn't take pictures, but the results were on par with others who have posted pics. I did see some streaking due to overlapping wipes. But not so noticeable that it was annoying. I found using the wipes a little difficult with the supplied gloves on. Was also difficult to wipe the trim and not get it on the paint or windows. Next time i'll mask things off with painters tape. I also think i'll try the option of buying it in a bottle with a foam applicator. Seems like it would be easier to control and hold on to, as well as a foam applicator could contour to the surface. We sold the car, so can't speak to longevity until we use it on another vehicle.

Well worth the price. Renews old trim. May need a second application after a few days if really dried out / faded. My wife's 95 Xterra looks like a fresh detail was done. BUY THIS! It lasts much longer than Armor All, especially after the second application which I did after about a month. Its been approx 2 months and washed the vehicle 3or 4 times. Still looks good

I am not sure how to review this product, I am a mobile detailer and I have used a lot of different trim care products that "restores" plastic. I have read a lot of reviews about this product before trying it myself, very mixed reviews stating that it streaks, dis-colorize, etc. So I decided to try this on my car that has different types of plastic to see how it responds to the different types and how to best apply it with different methods and here are my findings from this one test.Firsat and foremost, a deep clean with schampoo or similar is required, and after that I highly recommend to use isopropanol or similar to really get rid of any dirt and grease.On textured plastic I felt like I needed to "massage" the product in to really get in to the textures and then even it out in a smooth overlapping motion to get rid of excess coating but not dry it wipe, leave just enough for it to not "blotch" together. Where I didn't do this it would streak a bit afterwards, if I left too much somewhere it would create a "blotchy" spot. And if you remove too much you will not get that rich darke look. So, so far very "touchy".On untextured and "sleek" plastic it was much easier to apply, it went on thick and nice, but here it was even more important to not leave too much on or it would come out a bit "streaky", I put on thick enough for it to create a covering layer and then try to "level" it even with enough coating on for it to be able to be smoothed out with a light touch, this coating doesn't seem to level itself out like their headlight kits ceramic does and you will have to smooth it yourself, on this plastic it took more time to try to perfect it, the places where I just overlapped it as instructed it would give a streak where the coating didn't level itself. But where you succeeded it will look pretty good, just use patience and a light hand.On semi textured plastic and also grey, I just covered it all in whatever motion I felt like and finished with an overlapping once over and so far that turned out the best on that plastic, propably because that was more forgiving for mistakes, harder to tell, and the not overtextured and semi sleek quality made it easier to apply in a more even overlap, no need to go back and forward to get that base cover.With the method of going over the plastic a few times and then smooth it with a patch side not already used one wipe goes a decent way, I first planned it out based on the instructions that I would need 1 wipe per mirror cap, 1 for the front fender, maybe 2, the same for the back and 1 each for the rear upper widow vent deco trims, this is a 2001 Chevy Tahoe for any one that knows what trims I am describing now, and 1 for the front window air intake trim. So, I ended up using a couple of spares to smooth out those test areas where I had to work in the product to try to give leveling a chance once "pretreated", and that worked ok if you did it fast enough, I did this fairly late in the evening so it wasn't too hot outside, but if you let it sit and harden for too long you will actually risk creating streaks because of adding to a semi-dry coating will "smear" the underlying layer, so if you feel you need to do this do it sooner rather then later.Once applied I took a closer look the next day to actually inspect the coating, areas where I did the extra working in and leveled it by lightly overlap without excess looks the best, areas where I just overlapped could have "blotch" spots, areas where I leveled to late streaked a bit, or got a "smeared" appearance.I feel that no matter which method I used, I didn't get that rich dark look I was hoping for like I am getting with my "restorer" that last a month or two, it still looks better but not quite what I expected. I can obviously not speak for longevity yet, but if it stays on for 200+ washes or so I think this will be an ok investment, I always have my car maintained as a detailer, and if this looks good and save me the time and products to maintain I am happy to have tried it. As long as you make the good prep-work and is patient I can see you getting great results with this, don't stress the process, try on inauspicious areas first to learn and watch the behavior on your specific plastic before you go all in. I tried different methods on purpose on my own car before committing to this product to use professionally, you will need to play around with it yourself, but I feel that if you follow the instructions blindly you might get undesired results with this product. All plastics are different, textures, age, etc make the plastic absorb products differently, previous treatments needs to removed, the prep work is really important any work on a car is only as good as your preparations.So, will I buy this again? sure, I will give this another shot, now that I know better how it acts and appears on at least 3 different plastics I can improve my technique to apply it and feel fairly comfortable with the result. I will try it on a clients car soon that has extremely weathered plastics and he has agreed to a trial run on his car, then we will definitely see how this product work, my car is after-all continuously maintained and is not a fair object for this product, not in the sense of actually restoring the old plastic anyway, I had hoped for a richer and darker black though, but at least it looks very clean and shiny, hopefully for a long time.I will update this review once I have tested it on my clients trims, they are really in bad shape.But until then, give this a try but remember to take your time and try out smaller areas first before going all in at once, try different methods and just make sure to smooth it out lightly as you go.