As the title suggests. I was finally able to track down some black shoe dye and am looking to do it this weekend. What do you guys suggest as far as cleaning/prep work? Mild soap and water? Something more aggressive? I was thinking I would just tape off the edges with painters tape, unless it's not that difficult to remove the trim?

Thanks for the input!

 

My only suggestion is to forget about the shoe dye and buy some bumper paint. Duplicolor makes some and so does SEM. I have had great luck with SEM products. Duplicolor makes a prep spray that will remove wax and dirt. It also works great on the roof trim strips but I remove them from the car. For the bumpers and the side molding I just tape them off with newspaper.

My 2¢,

...Lee

 

I am on board with Ozark. My 96 wagon had the trim and bumbers all faded a light color. I decided to go with the IPD product. Link here:
http://ipdusa.com/Universal-Products...-202-617-1075/

This was easy to clean and prep and I tape of the with painters masking tape. A year later and the bumber covers are still black. I didn't like the original color and I some wagons where the plastic covers were black. I have a dark blue wagon and so done deal, I painted them black. The black dye has a sponge applicator and a couple of coats and you are good to go.

That is my 2 cents.

 

I did both of my cars with the Duplicolor bumper paint. I bought the adhesive as well. I did the wifes car in the black it lasted 1.5 years before seeing any fading. I just did the Yellow R about a month ago. I love the way it looks the grey looks like I bought all new moldings from Volvo.