How to restore sun damaged plastic bits.

[bentwrench]

One word: Penetrol.

I read about it here: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/refinish-sun-bleached-ikea-cha-154874

And thought about my headlight housing and gauge housing. So I picked some up.

Step one: Apply with a rag.
Step two: Wait 5 minutes.
Step three: Remove with a fresh rag, and be amazed (I was.)

I didn't take before and after pictures so now I'm looking for other plastic bits to do this on.

 

[bcware]

Where would one procure penetrol?

 

[bentwrench]

I got mine at my local Home Hardware. I had to go to their site (the manufacturer is called Flood) to look for distributors near me:

http://www.floodco.com/paint-additive-solutions/products/view-product.jsp?productId=11

Interestingly, the place I got it from has been removed from their list, which explains why they had to ship it in from their warehouse on the other side of the country...

 

[bentwrench]

I know it's listed as a paint additive, but if you do a quick search in Google for "faded plastic penetrol" you'll find there's a ton of forum posters who recommend it for all sorts of uses.

Apparently, it works on vinyl too, so I may use it on my Miata soft top too.