I was wondering if this happened to anyone else on the board. Today I was detailing the interior of my car. I was cleaning my pastic pieces with ArmorAll cleaning wipes, and it began to take the paint off of the plastic. Now part of the base coat is showing. Anyone else have a similar thing happen?

 

1st I ever heard of this. Can you give further details ?
(scuse the pun)

 

i use armorall all the time and i have never had that problem. i also painted some of the interior pieces to match and have had no problems w/ those either. what year is it?

 

Year, model and condition of vehicle would be helpful to know. What pieces are we talking about?

That said, likely the finish or the plastic was badly oxidized, would be my guess.

 

Hey greiz, I also feel your pain. This happened to me on my 67 dash. I used to used it to keep the int looking nice, until it just took the paint right off. It also caused the chrome plated stip to peel off on my door panels. While we are on the subject, it also made my tires crack/weather check - and this car litterally only sees the sun about 200 miles per year!
Since then (~1990) I have never touched another ArmorAll product again.
I strickly use Eagle One products for inside and tires, and Maguires on the ext.
Good luck,
Troy
BTW, untill the ArmorAll probs, the 67 was in PERFECT condition! I had to buy new int pieces.

 

My experience with Armor All has not been as drastic, but I have heard about this. If you begin using Armor All you have to keep using it. Something chemically. If you use it for a year and quit, your plastic will become chalky and disintigrate. Don't kow why, only that it does. I use the green bottle 2001 Urethane if anything now. Never had a problem. Like someone else said, it may be oxidization. Only you know if it is a little color on the cloth or if the paint is just...gone!

 

I have heard that Armor All is horrible for your interior as well... I have heard it doesn't help cracking but rather makes cracking occur easier and not continuing the use is bad for the car also.

I've always used Meguiars products just to be on the safe side.

 

First off, let me start by saying I do interior repairs on cars.
Okay, Armorall is like crack for your car. There's no reason to use it, when there's soo many awesome interior products out there.
All Fords have a different color underneath the topcoat. I see it alllll the time. Especially on plastic pieces. Armorall is alcohol based, so the topcoat on plastic interior trim pieces. That's why it took the color off. Fords have the worst topcoats of any make. I see the door handle plastic pieces scratched and peeling, it's usually black underneath. Don't ever ever ever use anything that harsh on your dash. Dashes are very finicky when it comes to products, most common result is the dye peeling off. Trust me, I do these every day at work.
To solve you're problem, either you have to replace the trim piece, which are not too difficult to find. Or you have to get an interior company to re-dye the piece, which is very simple. Oh by the way, it doesn't matter if that trim piece was oxidized or not, it would have happened regardless.

 

Mustang_ali, any recommendations on product?

 

Yes, Mothers and Meguiars. I've become addicted to a leather foam conditioner by Meguiars. I use it on everything - plastic, dash and vinyl. You can also purchase a specific dash foam, but it's basicly the same thing. Plus, it's better to use leathers conditoners on your vinyl, since it can crack. That stuff leaves an incredible shine, and is not greasy! I just apply it with a microfiber towel, and it lasts a long time.
I also couldn't live without Mothers - Back to Black, it's excellent stuff. Great for that plastic trim on your side mirros, I use it on my tires, any plastic trim, wheel wells, wiper arms, etc. You can use it on other colors too, it's just that with black, it's the most dramatic.
I'm sure there is people out there that swear by Armorall, but I just don't see a reason to use that stuff.