Restoring 'Soft touch' interior parts- any idea's anyone?

Soft touch coating.

I have had my car, a 2001 TDi 75 SE which has a grey... platinum.....interior that was quite sticky when I had it in May 2013. I assumed it had been sprayed with a grey paint to a thickness of a mm thick or more so the glovebox had no leather look moulding to the surface as did other areas to different degrees. The glove box door had two deep 'over sprayed' scratches that I decided to clean with spray on bathroom cleaner.... usual warnings to try on first. Applied with a toothbrush it softened the coating and could be wiped off with a wet cloth. I eventually did all the internal grey panels which are relatively easy to remove when you know how/where to pull and prise and to what degree!

It took several applications but resulted in a clean door with a leatherette finish as pristine as it left the factory. The two deep scratches disappeared as they were only to the 'coating'. Removal can only be done a little at a time say a 50mm square but it is clear that this awful coating has protected the original finish. I haven't done the dash as it is darker grey but too seems to have a similar finish.

Is this the soft coating that is universally despised?

My car was registered on 3/3/2001. The leatherette moulded surface is shiny to the top surface and the leather look pattern is matted to the 'etched' leather pattern. It looks good and feels good so why AUDI would have sprayed over it and in my case continued to spray over it during its lifetime I do not know. If you think hat your finish is the same as mine try cleaning the fuse cover as I did to start with and see the difference. From memory I think I used a Cif 'Bathroom' spray liquid which was non-abrasive....semi transparent. We had a similar 'Kitchen' version too, both were non scratch and didn't damage the parts in any way. I did post this last year but I never saw it in print at the time.
 
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Hi all, has anyone on here applied the decals to the climate control buttons? Do they still let the red light through OK?

I've taken delivery of a set set of the stickers from a German supplier, I'm hoping they are a decent quality. I just need to pluck up the courage to apply them now!

Thanks,

Andy
 
Hi all, has anyone on here applied the decals to the climate control buttons? Do they still let the red light through OK?

I've taken delivery of a set set of the stickers from a German supplier, I'm hoping they are a decent quality. I just need to pluck up the courage to apply them now!

Thanks,

Andy
It is quite simple to tell if they will be ok or not.

Firstly does light shine through them?
If not then they are the wrong stickers.
Secondly look at the fan symbol on the fan sticker. If this looks similar to the standard one you may be ok
If the fan symbol seems quite different and larger. Then you probably have the poor quality ones.
Also seem just how black and shiny they are. The blacker they are the worse they will look.

But for anyone who is considering buying stickers the fan symbol is the most important tell-tale sign.

But even the good stickers need to be applied correctly to look ok.
You need to remove as much of the black from the buttons where the symbols are so that the light can shine through the symbol.
Clean he buttons with something like nail varnish remover and dry them thoroughly to ensure they stay put.

I opted for replacing the buttons with the A4 buttons instead of stickers and this seems to be one of the better options.
The best option of course is to replace the panel (ideally for a 2001 non soft touch panel)

Steve B
 
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soft peel paint can be removed with very hot soapy water and a scotchbrite pad. The BMW boys have been doing this for years. The graining is on plastic moulding so it will still show once the paint is removed.
I've done this on an RX7 before and used satin black paint to repray the parts. Also did it on an E46 3 Series and just left them in the base plastic - looked good as new.
 
Chiron has done exactly what I did with my A2 last year. I would not use very hot soapy water or a Scotchbrite Pad. Far too messy and will not get into the 'leather grain' that you need to expose.

'CIF Easy lift KITCHEN' dissolves the soft finish without any damage to the underlying surface. Do not spray it on as it will get everywhere but simply brush it on and agitate with a medium cheapo toothbrush. It is best to do one area at a time and before it dries it can be wiped off easily with a wet cloth, regularly wrung out in a bucket of warm water.

The suggestion elsewhere that a similar surface 'soft finish can be re-applied with a 'rattle' can is unrealistic for obvious reasons. You cannot over-paint any surface that is not perfectly clean and sound. The internal panels, switches etc of your car are far from being clean nor do they have a sound surface. Rattle cans lack the accuracy and the finesse required to attempt such a task.
I have been using very accurate air brushes for the last 45 years that can spray a pencil line and upwards and wouldn't attempt the task even using my equipment.

Simply remove the coating. It is between nine and fourteen years old and is failing both visually and materially. The CIF product I have listed will not damage your surfaces.....but always read the labels and follow the makers advice. It is supplied in a plastic spray bottle and has probably had huge amounts of money spent on its development. Spray a little at a time into an old cup and use the toothbrush.

Do not use thinners, paint stripper, nail varnish remover etc....... as they have the capacity to seriously damage the surfaces.
 
Well, funny you should say but there is little else on the label!
I guessed that as CIF make cleaning fluids and as it was on the same shelf as others in the Supermarket....... it probably was. No mention of A2 or soft coatings but... what the hell....there is probably more to this fluid than meets the eye?....and so there was. Almost made for the job.

CIF FTW!! never sold well so discontinued!:rolleyes:
 
Ok will wait for the results is there any chance you could post the part number for the spray can

Hi there, sorry this has taken so long for me to reply to, my attention has been focussed on all things Lambretta in the last few months. The part number for the spray is: LLS-MAX-EC3-A1. The colour is described on the can as 'Platin Hell', but obviously you'll need to order for your own interior colour. Still haven't tried it yet, and I have to say I like the idea of using CIF to actually remove the old stuff first. I'd see what it looks like unsprayed and either leave it that way if it looks good, or use the genuine audi spray.
 
The coating is Plastidip which is designed for dipping but despite the name can be bought in aerosols too. Although given it's thickness I think a better finish would come from dipping or transfer printing rather than spraying. See below link for limited colour choice.

http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-paint/coating-paints.html

There may be more colour choices if you search in the US.

I have sprayed some wheel bolt covers with the black Plastidip and it does splutter out so tricky to get an even coat without runs, but the black dried finish is the same colour and texture as the coating on my A2's interior - same stuff used in Ferrari's too.

Frost also do thinners which I imagine could strip old off and thin the tinned Plastidip for a better quality finish, but for small interior panels like window switch surrounds I would dip.
 
concidering how many he has actually sold though and the positives, a few negative feedbacks mean nothing. they are probably the type of people that wanted them to look like brand new audi items. for £9 you wont get that. i am not going argue about it as i have never brought any and it was only a suggestion to the thread. If you want brand new go to audi and spend hundreds. if you want cheap buy these or the others which are a few pages back that look even better. simples..

If you look at negative feedback that way you will miss out on lots of things. I read reviews on things too and there is lots of negative reviews. That wont stop me going to alton towers just because 1 person got stung by a wasp. because someone didnt clean the buttons before sticking the stickers on they leave feedback saying the stickers wont stick to the buttons. the other 200 odd buyers had no problems.
 
Hi, does anyone have an upto date link for the black soft touch paint? and stencil stickers so i can stick them on and then spray the paint and then remove the stencil stickers
 
Had a read of this and some of it dates back over a long period of time.

I have wear marks in the recesses for your fingers on my drivers side window switch surround, the switches themselves are in good order, it’s just the platinum surround that has some wear. I’m fortunate that the soft touch is the same colour as the plastic underneath so not really visible however it’s noticeable to me and would like to change it.

Is it indeed possible to replace the surround and leave the switches? If I’ve read correctly it seems so and when hunting around on eBay I can only find the switches and not the surround.

Does anyone have a link to where I can buy the surround in soft touch, platinum grey (I only have front electric windows). If there is a part number for it and if no eBay link whether Audi will sell this part without the switches?

thanks.
 
Had a read of this and some of it dates back over a long period of time.

I have wear marks in the recesses for your fingers on my drivers side window switch surround, the switches themselves are in good order, it’s just the platinum surround that has some wear. I’m fortunate that the soft touch is the same colour as the plastic underneath so not really visible however it’s noticeable to me and would like to change it.

Is it indeed possible to replace the surround and leave the switches? If I’ve read correctly it seems so and when hunting around on eBay I can only find the switches and not the surround.

Does anyone have a link to where I can buy the surround in soft touch, platinum grey (I only have front electric windows). If there is a part number for it and if no eBay link whether Audi will sell this part without the switches?

thanks.

You could just remove all the soft touch


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Had a read of this and some of it dates back over a long period of time.

I have wear marks in the recesses for your fingers on my drivers side window switch surround, the switches themselves are in good order, it’s just the platinum surround that has some wear. I’m fortunate that the soft touch is the same colour as the plastic underneath so not really visible however it’s noticeable to me and would like to change it.

Is it indeed possible to replace the surround and leave the switches? If I’ve read correctly it seems so and when hunting around on eBay I can only find the switches and not the surround.

Does anyone have a link to where I can buy the surround in soft touch, platinum grey (I only have front electric windows). If there is a part number for it and if no eBay link whether Audi will sell this part without the switches?

thanks.
I believe new window bezels for RHD cars are only available in soul black. Worth checking with Audi @CreweAudi . From my experience I recently managed to source a new, unused soft touch window bezel in twist, but the soft touch degraded so much over time that it would not survive long once installed. I’m an OEM intransigent purist but perhaps is worth checking a more durable spray finish to ensure durability...
 
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