I haven't used an interior protectant since using Armor-All on my first car 7 years ago. The shiny, greasy, dust-magnet that became my interior was more than enough to turn me away for quite awhile.

Since then I have used a dilluted mild detergent to clean the interior vinyl and plastic of my vehicles and left them clean but untreated. However after seeing how dry the plastic of my Z looked after cleaning prompted me to start checking again.

Based on the recommendations of this and many other auto detailing forums and the advice of many professional detailers I decided to give 303 a try. As you may have guessed, I am more than displeased with the results.

While my dash and console look nice, my door panels look absolutely horrible. Blotchy, uneven, spotted - I am very dissappointed! I'd rather buy new door panels every other year than have to look at this stuff.

I started with a light coat, but saw the uneveness and applied another light coat. I tried applying slightly more to test area and completely saturated another area trying to find out what it would take to make the doors look right. Finally I gave up. I've waited for several days now, hoping that maybe time and a bit of evaporation would even things out. But unfortunately they are still just as bad as the day I applied 303.

Did I do something wrong in the application? Bad bottle? Do you have to use it a few times before it starts too look right? Maybe the stuff just doesn't work on the doors?

Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

It's not the 303. It's the perforations in the panels that cause uneven coverage of any protectant. Mine look blotchy too. Haven't played with it too much to find a solution. There have been suggestions in other posts.

The whole idea is to get an even application. How is the trick

 

Sadly - its not the fault of 303. Our doors are just not designed to evenly take any kind of protectant. I did the same to mine, there does appear to be a blotchyness to them, and theres little spots here and there that really sparkle (like a star almost) its strange.

The rest of my interior looks fine, except the doors.


I'm still using 303, and I'm thinking that maybe after a few coats close together, the material (whatever its made out of) might soak up enough of it to even out the appearance.

 

Can any of you guys post pics of your dash/center console, etc. so I can see what the GOOD parts look like with the 303? I can't believe how fast the plastic is drying out and weathering in my Z in only 3 months. I've been using a damp towel to wipe down all of it and it just doesn't seem to be enough, so I thought about trying 303...

 

I get the best results if a drench a terry cloth towel with the 303 and then use it on the panels, the little threads then get into the panel better.

 

Westpak - I'll have to try that next time I detail my car. Seems very logical - with a completely soaked rag, you will push the 303 into all the little dimples or whatever.

I assume that you then go over the surface with a dry rag to wipe off the excess ?

 

I use the 303 on a rag for the door panels as well. But I just put a little of the 303 on the rag. Seems to work fine.

 

.....I think the application process makes a big difference. When I first used 303 I applied it with a cotton towel, and it left blotches. 2 weeks later I applied with a MicroFiber towel and the results were 100 times better. I spray a section of the MF towel (to nearly saturated) then apply in up-down and left-right motions. I couldn't be happier with my interior after 6 months using 303. Good luck!

 

I think I use MicroFiber towels for everything on my car, I keep 4 in the car along with a little Swiffer cloth

 

LOL

And I thought I was bad!

 

The first pic in this thread illustrates the look of my door panel quite well...

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=28036

 

Never spray the product directly onto the surface. Spray it onto a cotton terry cloth, then rub into the door panels with a wax on/off cirlcular motion. Ten let it SOAK IN FULLY, i wait about 15min. Then buff off with a dry terry cloth. My door panels are perfect. The dmples, and the fact that the door panels arnt perfectly curved will still give a "stepped" apearance, but its not blotchy.

 

Augh! Blotchy door syndrome. I too suffer from that. One coat of Armor-all was all it took. The dash itself looks decent, namely because I basically poured the stuff on, but the door panels, ugh. My only hope is that the Armor-all will wear out eventually. That way, I can go back to just a very light soap and water.