Drain cleaner got splashed on my car and stained the plastic door trim. How can I remove the stains? (Info below)

Or do it to the remaining moldings and tell everyone it is a custom job… Remember splatter paint?? :grin:

The only bad thing about forcing the landlord over something as small as a discolored molding is that the rent could go up enough to make the OP have to move, and in the housing market in my part of the world anyways, houses only last a few days on the market rather rent or own, so not easy to find anything right now…

IMHO sometimes you have to pick your battles and this may be one you would loose no matter the outcome… No offence as I have had 4 Corollas and love them but they are not a 71 Hemi Cuda or a Harley with damage…

I could be wrong, but I think that trim originally was color matched to the car. You might just be stripping off oxidized paint with the drain cleaner. So you might actually be fixing it by hitting it with the cleaner!

1 Like

Where I used to live, there was a paint store that would match paint colors and load the paint into an aerosol can if that’s what you wanted. I even had some metal flake custom paint matched that way. Was only about 2x cost of a can of Krylon at the hardware store. Look for something similar where you live.

Before you do anything, you need to clean the area to be painted with a solvent that will dissolve and remove any waxes or other surface contaminants. Otherwise, the grit in the sandpaper will drive it into the grooves it makes in the paint/part surface and it will affect the new paint adhesion. Tape off the area not to be painted and lightly sand the existing surface with 2000 or 3000 grit sandpaper and wipe clean with a tack cloth or similar. You just want to create a surface that will be good as a mechanical bond for the new paint. Apply paint in light coats- be patient. Taking more time is far better than dealing with runs. Good luck.

1 Like

Other than asking, suggest to not annoy landlord further, otherwise you’ll have this problem along with no place to live. Not enough bang for the buck.

On a 2000 Corolla, makes some sense to do nothing at all. Live with it. Weathering will gradually make the mottled appearance less noticeable. Another idea, you might be able to sand the remaining silver part off, no need to apply paint. Worth a try anyway, worse case you’ll have to apply some paint. BTW, if you decide to apply paint, remove the trim part and paint it well away from the car. (Expect you may have to replace some broken plastic trim-attaching pieces.) Hang it from a string attached with some sort of clip. Several thin coats, sanded a little in between to smooth rough spots, is better than a few thick coats.

It’s a Corolla after all, tough car, doesn’t demand perfection.

1 Like

My plumber insisted I buy a bottle of drain cleaner. I was against it but it didn’t even work

Yea I want to be careful because I have no where else to go. I can’t jeopardize that over a plastic trim

1 Like

It’s very much possible but I think that it’s originally silver