Stained Door Handle

[mbzjag8090]

The door pull (not the chrome piece one pulls to open the door, but the long, hard plastic vinal 'puller' that one uses to pull the door closed) on my 1984 W126 300SD was stained with the small amount of ink recently. I tried scrubbing with 303 to no avail.

PLEASE, any suggestions on how to remove this nasty stuff? It is only about the size of a quarter that is stained, but it looks terrible as my int. is grey and the ink is dark blue.

Thanks.

[Ferdman]

Try Oxy-Clean.

[dolebludger]

Some other ideas would be rubbing or denatured alcohol, and some of that "clear coat safe" scratch remover. There would be nothing wrong with trying paint thinner and/or some Windex. You might also try clay bar. But DO NOT use laquer thinner! If your car has been well waxed, you might try some wax remover on the handle, as the ink may just be sitting on top of the wax, and may come off with it.

303 has some cleaning qualities, but is not primarily a cleaner. That is probably why it is not working for this.

Hope this helps,
Richard:) :) :)

[mbzjag8090]

I'm not sure that I made myself clear enough. The door pull that I'm taking about is inside of the car. Will these products still work??

[dolebludger]

Now that could be a "HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR." What is your interior door handle made of? Does the stained part have a shiney or matte finish? Also, is it a "hard" plastic or is it sort of an upholstered piece?

Thanks,
Richard:) :) :)

[560 SEC]

WD 40. I`ve used to take ink off of vinyl. Works great,just spray some on a rag and rub.

John

[Napoleon Hodges]

Isopropyl alcohol on a sponge and don't let it run. Then a good rinse will do it. You will have to clean the whole thing. I suggest that you remove it from the car to clean it.

[dolebludger]

Again, what kind of door handle material and what kind of ink? I tried the "worst kind of ink" (permanent magic marker) on some smooth plastic for an experiement. Stuff like Oxy Clean and Windex wouldn't touch it. Paint thinner, alcohol, and lighter fluid all worked about the same in that the removed the surface ink, but left a bit of an inbedded stain. Ditto for leather cleaner and non-abrasive plastic cleaner. To get out the imbedded stain, I had to "go abrasive" on it, which might not be a good idea here, depending on the door handle material.

Thanks,
Richard:confused:

[D.L. SWINFORD]

8090;
Are you ready for this?
According to the Garoos of waxes and their report; a side issue was how to remove the "white stuff from vynal surfaces.
PEANUT BUTTER.
Yep, the smooth not the lumpy spread.
I used it on my '85 300dt; sure looks great, tastes good too.
Try it and you'll like it.
If it doesn't work as they said, it's the only cleaner you can eat when you're through with it.
Happy Trails Beep Beep from The Spiderman on the Gulf Coast, Don :p :p :p

[Tom Hanson]

That part is also referred to as a "door armrest". You might have to get it dyed by an upholstery shop if the ink stain won't come out. New replacements are also available in most colors.

[dolebludger]

I really think the original poster needs to reply and give us more detailed info before any of can give an informed answer. What kind of ink is it? That kind and textrue of vinyl is the handle? For experiment, I applied some permanent "Magic Marker" to a scrap piece of smooth surfaced plastic. In that case, paint thinner, alcohol, and lighter fluid all produced the same result of removing only the surface ink, but leaving a noticeable stain. Oxy Clean and Windex did no good. To lessen the imbedded stain, only abrasive cleaner would help, and still didn't get the job done without changing the surface. This was a "worst case scenerio" with the permanent ink. With non-permanent ink, a number of fairly simple methods worked. So, if we knew more, we could come up with more!

Thanks,
Richard:) :) :)

[mbzjag8090]

Thanks for the responses. Since I last posted, I cleaned the door handle with soap and water and furthermore, rubbed the area with 303. This did a pretty good job. Over the past two weeks, the rest of the stain has pretty much faded out. The door handle, I believe, is some sort of plastic, and the ink must not have been permanent.