Removing Mud Stains from Fender Flares using Mother’s Back-to-Black

[DarthLincoln]

I don’t wash my Bronco very often, but when I do, I get a bit frustrated that the fender flares never look clean. They look like they are stained with mud or dirt no matter how much I wash them.

I recently found a solution to get the embedded dirt out with Mother’s Back-to-Black. I had an old bottle, but I never really used it because it left streaks on smooth plastic. On textured plastic it works really well.

Below are what my fender flares looked like even after washing. I also tried washing them with ScrubbingBubbles foam wash after washing them on the vehicle, based on a suggestion I read, but they still looked like this:

To apply Back-to-Black, I put some onto a microfiber cloth and massaged into the plastic. Then I buffed it dry and FINALLY they look clean, almost new:

After doing the fender flares, I also used it on the hood air deflector and center part of my grille. The truck bed coating on the grille has a bit more gritty texture so i just used a small brush instead of rubbing it in with the cloth:

Now it’s ready to get dirty again.

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[userdude]

Looks good! The Scrubbin Bubbles didn't help me at all, but Aerospace 404 or whatever seemed to help, but not that much.

When you say buffed, did you use elbow grease or a polisher like for wax?

 

[CarGuy]

I use back-to-black and have great results.

 

[Wilbur's son]

Looks good! The Scrubbin Bubbles didn't help me at all, but Aerospace 404 or whatever seemed to help, but not that much.

When you say buffed, did you use elbow grease or a polisher like for wax?

I've had good success with Scrubbing Bubbles and a soft bristle brush. Let 'em soak for a few minutes. The only time I had to use elbow grease on my flares was when I drove through some cattle manure that slopped out of a trailer as it turned to the interstate on ramp. I thought the flares were stained for sure.

 

[userdude]

I've had good success with Scrubbing Bubbles and a soft bristle brush. Let 'em soak for a few minutes. The only time I had to use elbow grease on my flares was when I drove through some cattle manure that slopped out of a trailer as it turned to the interstate on ramp. I thought the flares were stained for sure.

It might be the type of sludge, I mean mud we have: It's a limestone sticky crap that's like an off white, so it shows pretty bad on the black plastic. I tried multiple times, one time left the bubbles on for 15 minutes and used a peanut brush. It really barely made a dent.

 

[Rydfree]

Works on the crappy interior door panel plastic as well.

 

[Wilbur's son]

It might be the type of sludge, I mean mud we have: It's a limestone sticky crap that's like an off white, so it shows pretty bad on the black plastic. I tried multiple times, one time left the bubbles on for 15 minutes and used a peanut brush. It really barely made a dent.

Mine gets a watery clay kinda mud here in KS. Or the sandy grit sludge in Colorado. Yours sounds like the kind that can harden into a concrete.

 

[userdude]

Mine gets a watery clay kinda mud here in KS. Or the sandy grit sludge in Colorado. Yours sounds like the kind that can harden into a concrete.

The DFW off road park (Bridgeport) is an old decommissioned limestone quarry. I've left there before and had to powerwash clay caked underneath for half an hour and still missed a bunch. If you go to Barnwell (East Texas) or Merus (panhandle/Amarillo), that stuff blows off with the wind or a decent rain.

 

[DarthLincoln]

Looks good! The Scrubbin Bubbles didn't help me at all, but Aerospace 404 or whatever seemed to help, but not that much.

When you say buffed, did you use elbow grease or a polisher like for wax?

just gentle buffing by hand with a dry rag, like removing car wax after it’s hazy & dry. The Mothers website has a video of the application and I used the same basic method.

 

[DarthLincoln]

I've had good success with Scrubbing Bubbles and a soft bristle brush. Let 'em soak for a few minutes. The only time I had to use elbow grease on my flares was when I drove through some cattle manure that slopped out of a trailer as it turned to the interstate on ramp. I thought the flares were stained for sure.

I sprayed the ScrubbingBubbles and let it sit and foam up a bit but probably less than a minute. I’ll try letting it sit longer next time. I did use a brush to work in the soap before using the wash rag to scrub it and then rinse it off. My flares have looked mud stained for over a year, so maybe the dirt was too permanently set into the fine surface texture.

 

[Bronco Don]

I use arospace 303 it works great

 

[DarthLincoln]

I use arospace 303 it works great

I haven‘t tried 303 yet, but intend to. Do you use that on the interior plastics?

 

[Enginerd]

Cerakote wipes also work well for this, and the black molding across the hood by wipers.

 

[NativeTexan]

After the constant applications of these products only to have them return to their previous state, I went a different route.

Line-X. Cleans in one wipe. I love them, and broncos owners typically notice them and ask where I got them done.

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