Thanks. Glad that you mentioned how it held up after a month.

For those wanting to try spraying, I has great success with Krylon Fusion black paint, from walmart. Used it on all of the black plastic trim on my wife's 2005 Volvo S-40, and it held up for over 4 years with no problem, and no fading.

Come back when your inconsiderate neighbour has finished strimming their garden

I used the Rustoleum trim paint. I scuffed the plastic with fine sand paper, cleaned with denatured alcohol, masked, primed with standard Rustoleum auto primer, and painted 2-3 coats. It took about 2 weeks to fully cure and become less shiny. After curing it seems to resist scratching well and has not changed color for about 8 months now. It gives a durable consistent finish, but is more work and requires good spray technique/conditions.

Bondo Restore Black seems to not be heard of much, but works great also for cheap. I think I got it at Walmart for about $20. It chemically dyes the plastic back to black, so it is much better than stuff like back-to-black. Says it lasts 6 months, but it seemed like it looked good for more like a year from what I remember.

I've put things on for years, only looked good for a few days. Saw this video today, went to the store to get a heat gun. It was the best $22 I've spent on this. It went to a dark grey like it should have been almost instantly. Took a while to figure out a decent method, then it became easy. This is a great way to do this. Thanks for the video.

Concentrating in one spot for too long is what causes the streaking. Move the heat gun around faster and don't hold so close to the plastic. It takes a bit longer, but it's a lot more even. I did this on the plastic bumper covers on my old Ram van, turned out great

A neighbor told me about this tricks on my plastic bumpers, obviously in this vlog it really did. Thanks

I would suggest applying a ceramic coating after you're done just to make it last longer

Wish I would've seen this before I took mine off and arduously cleaned and repainted them w/ plastic-rated spray paint... only to start fading again a few years later. Kinda awesome how you took 'damage' and turned it into a technique of refinishing.

I own a jeep grand Cherokee Laredo. I've never had a jeep.. Now I love it. I'm trying to replace thing and up grade my look on my jeep. This tip was awesome!!! I love the bleeping jeep website. Keep on jeeping!!!.. Thanks

gaha that description is the best forever for the rest of history it should be a world record

Good video. I'm gonna try it on my lawnmower. I had that grey grand cherokee in the background. Loved it and it saved my life when a minivan going 50 mph rear ended me while I was sitting at a light.

make sure plastic is cleaned well for best results...also mask edges to prevent paint damage if you are a newbie at this...

Just a heads up... One year on after doing this on an 01 XJ resulted in the trim not only returning to it's original ugly grey but now has streaks from where the heat dissipated through the plastic. Extra care was taken using low power and a sweeping motion to spread the heat evenly, and I think the irregularity now was due to the plastic itself not being perfectly uniform. You'll see mold lines on the inside of the bumper caps, for example. Maybe heating the entire trim piece in an oven would yield a longer lasting effect, but ultimately I would suggest using a product with either graphine or some synthetic oil like what the polymer originally contained. Looked good at first, but didn't last a winter. I ended up painting which I'm quite happy with.

Using a torch is faster and works better.

That's a pretty neat trick. I've had good luck with Krylon "fusion for plastic". It bonds to plastic and I've used it for all kinds of stuff.

I've done this about five times in the 2 years I've owned my jeep with a propane torch. Very carefully of course. It lasts longer than tire shine but fades in about a month. My plastics have not become brittle....yet.

3D printer folks use the same technique to get rid of little fuzzy imperfections in plastic printed items. Plastic "fading" is actually just the surface getting roughened up from age, wear and tear, and UV exposure. The heat gun partially melts the surface layer of the plastic, allowing it to self-level like paint and form a smooth surface, and eliminating the roughness that gives it the faded look.

I just paint my fading trim flat black with spray paint and it looks great and lasts a long time. It is also easily reapplied years later when it fades again. Don't ever user Plasti-Dip for a long term solution. Plasti-Dip looks great when it is new and it fills in scratches and makes them unnoticeable. I have Plasti-Dipped my trim and wheels on both my cars about 3 years ago. It looked great, but there are some major downsides immediately and over time. In the immediate/near future issues some carwash's sprayers would rip off your plasti-dip. One car wash I went though sprayed off half of the Plasti-dip on one wheel, but not the others. Some carwashes would spray off parts of the bumper or trim that I also plasti-dipped. It was hard to make it look good again. The only safe way to wash your car if it has any plasti-dip is to do it by hand. After 2-3 years plasti-dip fades and cracks and flakes off. It does not come off easy. When it is newly applied it is easy to peel off if you mess up and want to start over. After years though you have to no joke sand it off. I tried Goo Gone, power washers, etc with some luck, but not all of it would easily come off. I had to sand it off and it clogs sand paper very quickly. I just re-finished my trim and bumpers on my car that was plasti-dipped last week and used spray paint instead. It was super easy and it will last a lot longer. If it fades you just lightly sand it and re-apply. Spray paint won't crack and flake nearly as fast as plasti-dip will. Its not hard to do either. Just takes patience. Remove your trim or whatever you want painted and paint it on the ground to avoid getting your car. Otherwise use masking tape and paper to cover the area on your car that you don't want painted. Then just slowly apply paint in multiple passes after letting it dry after each pass. You just don't want to spray too much at one time where the paint starts dripping and leaves a streak. I paint in probably about 10 passes or so to make sure I don't get bubbles or drips and the car looks new when I'm done. Plan on this taking up your whole Saturday.

Great tip. I recently used a blow torch (but heat gun would have worked) to restore plastic patio chairs that get oxidized or start to break down in sunlight and get white powder on them that gets on your clothes. It worked great on them. I will have to try this on the front bumper of my wife's van.

I really miss these types of BleepinJeep video's..

This works, but it can also make the plastic brittle and hard so it can crack and break way easier.

I don't know if you had the same issue, but my fenders seemed to warp a little bit from the heat. They certainly look better than they did before, but I was still kinda bummed. Lol.

wow ..thats bro .. was wondering what other applications uses for heat gun.. found perfect match ..cheers

I found this out in 2002 when i accidently heat the plastics on my car, you are i think is bringing back the chemicals of the plastic to the surface. but good to see someone else found this out save a few bucks ...know!!

I've used a propane torch on mine. Used a license plate to deflect the heat and flame away from the paint.

I have a 95 4WD Suburban that had badly faded flares...I just masked them off and gave each two layers of black Raptor liner.

Pick a 6 x.6 area Do slow circles,while making crossing.passes in the one 6x6 area, it will not streak and will look way more consistent. Work for a lot of mediums also..easy peasy...do this even before sanding for adhesion promoter as a fresh surface is better than a sunbaked one to start...

No masking no overspray? What about the excessive heat bleed on your clear-coat and paint?

How long does this last please Comment back thank you for this video

I just used a heat gun and some armour all and it worked great.

I like a product called 303 Aerospace Protectant that works very well, but eventually it does need to be reapplied. I use it on rubber, plastic, and leather, and not just on cars. It's basically wipe on and wipe off.

Yes would like to know how it looks now

I changed my rear diff oil the other day and put a little of the used oil on all my faded plastics; so far, so good.

that clip was published in 2014, how long the heat gun treatment lasted?

the oil thats in the plastic just comes to surface. eventually it just parches and gets brittle

Tried this on my CRV....worked great for a week then got really bad....do you know what saved me from my mistake.....drum roll......Kiwi shoe shine noir with the sponge applicator....it was absolutely awesome! Thank me later.

i used a heat gun to get the door handles on my 96 xj "back to black" good stuff

black shoe polish does work very well.

I've searched for various techniques for restoring my rigid, black plastic, motorcycle luggage. I believe that knocking down the streaking, from uneven overlapping of applied heat, is easy. The tip was to have a microfiber cloth on hand, with a bit of olive oil or boiled linseed oil on it, & gently rub it in while the surface is still warm (NOT hot). After cooling, a randomly patterned, all-over warming of the entire part should even everything out even more. ***DON'T EVER go trying to warm plastics in your oven!*** Also, disassembly of the cases as much as possible for better quality results & so as not to damage neighboring components with differing cleaning/restoring techniques or products is a wise move. Flitz & Mother's Metal Polish for the S.S. bits & aluminium trim, replace the silicone tubing that seals the case's contents from the elements, adj. & lubricate the locks, refinish the support bracketry & get all new chromed, S.S. fasteners for mounting. . . & you're good to go.

Just did the heat gun on the trim of my 2010 Jeep Wrangler Sport. It looks good!!!! I made my jeep look new with a heat gun worth 27.99 at Home Depot!!! Buy new fenders and bumpers my ass!!!! Try the heat gun and save money!!!

You need to tape off the painted areas first: otherwise the paint might bubble.

This method works for a few months then looks worse than before. Did this on a 2004 CRV and finally just taped off the trim and spray painted. Don't do this method, I've learned my lesson.

Blow torch is even better just gotta be careful

I love this straight to the point videos. Thanks.

The heat gun trick works. For like 2 weeks. It quickly starts to fade again but now it looks worse than before. Get the paint and spend an hour doing it right.

Niiiiice...buddy of mine told me just to use a propane torch and I was thinking "what about a heat gun?" And blam you guys did it. I'd be blacking my front bumper on 2015 xterra. Yeah I know, if it makes ya feel better I HAD a 91 Jeep Cherokee (4cyl) manual that I got 298k miles out of before selling.

When doing the edge near the paint, DO NOT POINT IT AT THE PAINT! Put the heat gun next to the vehicle pointed at the fender. When I did my wrangler I caught the paint bubbling in the beginning, near the back fender in a low spot luckily. It might look a little patchy but the result at a glance will be BADASS! Great vid!

3m clear silicone will make them look like new just spray on and that's it work on all plastic and will make it shine like new

Blew my mind! I've always sprayed them with bead liner. I've had same exact heat gun lying around all this time.

Just buy bumper spray works fine.

How durable is? Weeks, months??

I think i ordered parts from you guys last year. fit perfectly, this is an awesome video and probably the best fix out there for the money. just subbed and liked. thanks guys

very nice demonstration. How do you prevent the thermoplastic from getting distorted due to the application of heat?

Couldn't find the Flux Capacitor on the website Matt.

Before or After heat gun .. Use Black Wow, but gets a bit shiny, but you can wipe it down just let black wow absorb into claddings..WD 40 works really great too but will wear off.... you can use armor all for 7v protection.. wipe new works great too and lasted almost 2 yrs on my Avy.. heat gun..wipe new...black wow ..and brand ne we basically...

Nice, my 2006 civic trim is so faded looks horrible. Between the windshield and hood too!!

motor oil works really good too

you can use a torch as well

you can also burn your paint off and deform sheet metal with a heat gun if you ride the short bus

Don’t mess with the heat gun. Only comes back twice as bad soon after. Use Gtechniq C4. Permanent trim restore. Two years anyways.

Jeep Wranger Fender Flares vs Wagner Heat Gun ! I tried this on my Jeep, look what it did

I think it's not pigment but melting all the little scratches back into a flat surface. I have done similar things in the past to small plastic items like calculators.

You actually get quicker and better results using a propane torch on a low setting

Black shoe polish is the best way of re blacking plastics

Anyway to fix ruuber. possibly silicone but I dount it. I have a 370z with stops. Rubbing the heck out of them with back to black but these acid rain spots really don't want to come off.

thanks man! greatest jeep tip yet!

Thanks for your efforts to share.

You should check out Penetrol. Stuff is great on faded plastics.

Saw a guy do this recently with a propane torch.

always check the temperature of a heat gun by pointing at your hand

Guys! How about spray it with a silicone after heating up ? Maybe it will make yhe plastic soften and not fade away ?

just clean it really good with acetone or whateve you preffered soap and water must be completely dry... And Paint it with plastic paint... best on 15degree above temp

Interesting method. I guess a way faster way of doing it would be to use a blow torch. Just gotta be extra careful

seafoam works really really well.

Just pour some diesel or some other oil and wipe it off. This way the plastic gets weak.

Hi buddy, can you make a video on how to remove rusty bolts using a eletric heat gun? someone told me about this to remove stuck 02 sensors, but not sure if its better to just go with a torch. I think this will make for a good video/ cheaper way to remove rusty bolts if it works!

i just took a microfiber rag and water to my and it worked for me

Flux Capacitors LOL Stay gold.

The best "temporary" product is leather conditioner. The best way, and longest i have found to make plastics black Get something like Armor all, or my personal favorite, turtle wax plastic spray. I put 2-3 coats on, DO NOT WIPE OFF. Wait a day, and do the same with leather conditioner. It will last months, in my case my engine bay on my BMW is entering the 4th month and still shiny.

use SEM paint works great, but the prep as always important,

That's great thanks a lot I'm going to try this the sprays and stuff are a waste of time and money again thanks

Nice. Aren't you friends with Chris Fix?

That's some good information to know....Thanks

Gonna have to try this! Thanks!

ground breaking. revolutionary

just use some shine stuff, or synthetic wax, it works well, just apply it often until it soaks in good

Awesome vid guys I'm doing this to my 98 xj right now lol

Okay.. this video was posted eight years ago. Are the fender flares still black!!??

What if you sand it first, then use the heat gun?

I was looking for a way to make the plastic fenders hot without rejuvenating them.. I just like plastic when it's nice and warm

I used plasti-dip on my girlfriends laredo, worked out pretty nice hasnt rubbed off or anything.

AWESOME VIDEO BRO .... I DID IT TO MY 2003 TJ ...THANKS MAN !!!!

PEOPLE STOP RUINING YOUR CARS. It will last couple of months and then it will look twice worse and so on

Thanks, very interesting. I am going to try it.

Does this method work with all types of plastic? I have a mini-gokart for small children that has sun fading.

Would this work for removing scratches from black exterior plastics panels? If not, can this be done at all?

What about Mc Guire's Black Plastic Restorer???

Will this work on anthracite trim that's not pure black