Best Exterior Dressing: Reviewed and Ranked

Exterior dressings put the dark, factory-fresh look back on the plastic and rubber that UV has cooked gray over the years — bumper caps, fender flares, mirror housings, wiper cowls, side moldings. Water-based dressings give a matte-to-satin finish and don't sling onto the paint at highway speed; solvent-based ones look wetter and shinier but can attract dust and stain anything they drip onto. Wipe the trim clean and dry first, apply with a foam applicator (not a rag — rags waste product), and buff the excess so it doesn't streak in the next rain. Plan on redoing it every few washes; nothing in this category lasts a season no matter what the bottle says.

Exterior Dressing

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