Are you tired looking at your rim with Plast Dip? Or are you missing your rims’ natural chrome? Some car owners really have to change the color of their rim just for the fun of it, but others want to have colorful insulation on their rims to protect them from the harsh effects of the elements. Anyway, you don’t have to worry, because Plasti Dip can be removed with some flick of the fingers.
But removing this rubber coating, though easy, would not be just like magic. In fact, this durable rubber paint is peelable and can be removed without damaging or scratching the host surface. You just need some techniques and the right tools to do it flawlessly.
On this matter, we would like to show you have some proven ways on how to remove Plasti Dip on your rims in quick and easy steps.
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What is Plasti Dip?
Plasti Dip is a brand of a multi purpose air-dry specialty rubber coating. This product is synthetic, peel-able, flexible, non-slip, insulating, and durable. This paint-like liquid could be applied by dipping, spraying or by brushing into the intended surface.
The Plasti Dip is available in more than 50 colors that are all conducive to automotive customization and home improvement. This coating solution is commonly used to protect coated surfaces from moisture, corrosion, acids, skidding and slipping, abrasion, and delivers convenience in gripping, and also provides colorful appearance on items being coated.
Moreover, there are other characteristics of Plasti Dip that make some car lovers admire its useful traits, here they are:
Prepare these tools when removing Plasti Dip
What to do when removing Plasti Dip from your rims
Plasti Dip®, like any other paint, could be applied in thin or thick coats. If you are removing the thicker coat, the effort is quite harder than when you are removing a thin one. When you are the one who applied the Plasti Dip on the rims yourself, you will know how thick or thin your application is.
A- Here’s what you will do if you have thick coating solution spread through the rims
1. Using a multi purpose lubricant
It is easier and quicker to work on your rims if you remove the tires from your car. A multi purpose lubricant (also, the surface safe adhesive remover), like WD-40, works well when the tires are laying on the ground so the lubricant oil could be spread out of the rims. You can have the solution works through the dip evenly as they lay on the floor compared to when the tires are kept lugged vertically from you car’s shafts.
When the tires are on the car, the lubricant will just flow downward because of gravity, so you will just end up spreading the lubricating oil, again and again, making it more time-consuming.
2. Let the lubricant sit
When you use WD-40 in removing thick Plasti Dip on rims, it may take longer than when the coat is thinner. So, let the lubricant sit for more than 8 hours, then you do the next steps below, except number
B- When rims have a thick coat of Plasti Dip
1. Using Duckamp Adhesive Remover
Care my cars | Spray the liquid
When you have a thin coating of the dip on your rims, you may use the Duckamp Adhesive Remover by spraying it across the rims. Wear your safety gloves so your hands may be free from any contaminants. Spray the liquid evenly to the affected areas, alternately using the paper towel to spread the solution in areas not reached by the spray. Let the adhesive sit for more than 15 minutes.
2. Scraping and wiping off the dip
Plastic razor | Care my cars
After the adhesive remover sits for a while, get your plastic razor. This type of razor is friendly to your rims’ metal and smooth surface and will not damage the paint job even if you use it on your car’s exterior. Don’t use excessive force in removing the dip as it will be actually soft enough to be scraped.
You only need minimum effort and pressure to remove the Plasti Dip from your rims. When you are done with scraping the remaining rubber coating, get your microfiber cloth and wipe off the leftover dip until the rims are totally from this coating solution.
You may use the Plastic Razor Blade brand from Mini Scraper. This plastic razor is sharp enough to scrape unwanted Plasti Dip without damaging the surface being cleaned. This cheap double edge safe scrape blade comes in 25 pieces and readily available from Amazon.
3. Using soap and water
Soap and water for cleaning
After the rims are free from dust (the small leftover of the dried coating solution) and scraped Plasti Dip, it is now time to thoroughly clean the rims with soap or detergent. Scrub the rims using an old toothbrush with soap and water to eliminate the remnants of the dip. Go through crevices and hard-to-reach areas of the rim using the toothbrush and alternately scrub them with a clean microfiber cloth.
4. Water rinsing and drying
When all the dirt and debris are totally removed, get your water hose and rinse the rims thoroughly with running water until they are cleaned. Make sure that every dirt is totally removed and no sign of Plasti Dip remnants are visible. When the rims are totally clean, dry them up using a clean rag.
5. Apply chrome polishes/tire shine and dressing
When the rims are dried up, you can apply chrome polishes to the rim if they are made from this material. So that you can save time and let your rims look shiny and brand new, after all, you have dismantled your wheels already. See our previous articles in picking the best chrome polishes for a car here.
Before you reinstall your wheels, you can also have a good tire shine and dressing for them after you treat them with great chrome polishes. You can pick the best tire shine and dressing available from Amazon Prime (with free shipping)
Conclusion
We are sure you enjoyed our tutorial for today. There are really some easy ways of removing Plastic Dip on your rims when you are going to see them again on their natural look. There are certainly cheap tools available online and they are not difficult to find, our recommended products are some of the easiest and cheapest to use and could be at your doorstep in no time when you order via Amazon Prime.
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