It's no secret that a Ford FX4 has tons of vinyl pieces on it: all around the bed and back bumper, the front bumper, running boards, fender flairs, mirrors and a lot more. It's basically everywhere.
Being mindful of the cost of keeping all this looking good, one can spend a ton of money trying to get that elusive cared for look. My garage if packed full of products that just didn't cut the mustard.
Today, after washing the truck I got to pondering what would be an alternative to OTC products. I decided to give LouAna pure coconut oil a try. Coconut oil is a pretty amazing product: it can withstand quite a bit of heat, as you can cook with it; it is a solid at 72 degrees and a liquid at 73, and it is pretty much clear when a liquid. What have I got to loose? So I put some the old girl and was quite pleased with the results:
Before, looking at a running board end cap that always looks terrible...
And after:
The cruddy cell phone pics don't do it justice but trust me it looks good as anything I've spent bucks for.
Fender flair before:
And after:
A couple of notes: I used paper towels to put the coconut oil on and to wipe up the excess. I tried wiping up the excess with a microfiber towel and it just didn't work. Also, this doesn't appear to leave an oily residue on the plastic, it appears to go right in and leave the plastic relatively dry. After about an hour I could wipe my hand on the bed rails and it came off clean, not oily - which is more than I can say for the many other products I've used over the years. It cleans up about as easy as black wow when one gets sloppy - I used a spray wax to get any smudges off the paint and ordinary glass cleaner to get it off the windows.
How long will it last? Be darned if I know, but if it lasts just 2 wash jobs I'll be thrilled to death! I will report later how well it holds up but for now, I like it. I don't recall what I paid for the coconut oil but it was in the cooking oil section at the Kroger and if it had been ridiculously priced I guarantee you I wouldn't have bought it.
Just wanted show all my fellow bitogers my new discovery. If it's been mentioned before I apologize for the waste of band width.
Being mindful of the cost of keeping all this looking good, one can spend a ton of money trying to get that elusive cared for look. My garage if packed full of products that just didn't cut the mustard.
Today, after washing the truck I got to pondering what would be an alternative to OTC products. I decided to give LouAna pure coconut oil a try. Coconut oil is a pretty amazing product: it can withstand quite a bit of heat, as you can cook with it; it is a solid at 72 degrees and a liquid at 73, and it is pretty much clear when a liquid. What have I got to loose? So I put some the old girl and was quite pleased with the results:
Before, looking at a running board end cap that always looks terrible...
And after:
The cruddy cell phone pics don't do it justice but trust me it looks good as anything I've spent bucks for.
Fender flair before:
And after:
A couple of notes: I used paper towels to put the coconut oil on and to wipe up the excess. I tried wiping up the excess with a microfiber towel and it just didn't work. Also, this doesn't appear to leave an oily residue on the plastic, it appears to go right in and leave the plastic relatively dry. After about an hour I could wipe my hand on the bed rails and it came off clean, not oily - which is more than I can say for the many other products I've used over the years. It cleans up about as easy as black wow when one gets sloppy - I used a spray wax to get any smudges off the paint and ordinary glass cleaner to get it off the windows.
How long will it last? Be darned if I know, but if it lasts just 2 wash jobs I'll be thrilled to death! I will report later how well it holds up but for now, I like it. I don't recall what I paid for the coconut oil but it was in the cooking oil section at the Kroger and if it had been ridiculously priced I guarantee you I wouldn't have bought it.
Just wanted show all my fellow bitogers my new discovery. If it's been mentioned before I apologize for the waste of band width.