On My wife's car several of the buttons have faded/discolored. Dealer said it was to to make up/hand creams etc. I was wondering if sunscreen caused the same?

 

Post pictures?

 

 

I don't know about sunscreen, but being parked in the street constantly during hot summer months with the sun beating down on plastic trim components will fade them over the years. .

 

Sunscreen is insidious. I still can't get the sunscreen residue entirely off the black dash in my Jeep. . . I've used some Meguiars interior cleaner, Griots interior cleaner, dish soap and water, and Simple Green. Somewhere in there I got most of it off, but I can still see a residue.

 

Granted this is from her GMC. But I assume all dealers use that same plastic composite?

 

I'd bet that's more from fingernails than sunscreen. But sunscreen is a known problem. This was especially true for the rubberized coatings in the 997 interiors. It can also be a challenge on leather.

If you must wear sunscreen, I'd recommend a clear one rather than ones that are white and creamy, at least on the arms and hands. I kept having problems with the white sunscreen when I'd autocross. Since I was out in the sun all day I needed sunscreen, but it would transfer to the leather on the door and leave a whitish stain that took some careful effort to remove. Now I use the spray on clear stuff with better results. Like Fred earlier posted, I also started wearing long sleeves even on hotter day autocrossing (a nice lightweight shirt with vents from REI). During my last autocross I had a ride-along wearing shorts that had slathered the back of his legs in the white stuff. What a pain-in-the-*** to get off of the ventilated seats!

 

I would not assume that, but maybe your're right. Maybe your wife needs a manicure? Could be here nails on the more frequently used controls?? She might be taping them with her nails and not pressing them with her fingerprint.

Hahah, StormRune beat me. Maybe the suncreeen softens the coating, and her nails are the deal-breaker.

 

LOL. Thx

 

Creams can be bad.. My wife always has some cream / lotion or sunscreen or whatever, and on her car I see blueish marks wherever that hit leather...
That said rubberized or plastic buttons/***** have always had a poor finish on watercooled Porsches, and look like crap after several years of nail/finger oil...
A lot of them are replaceable, some only come with the whole panel... On older cars (996 era) I had luck repainting them after a light sanding and model kit paint, plus clear..

 

Yes, they do. As does body oils. Surfaces should be routinely cleaned with a mild cleaner like zymol leather cleaner and a soft mf towel. Conditioning also helps.

 

Leather cleaner on the plastic buttons?

 

Yes Sir...not a problem at all

 

Thanks for the advice Moe!

 

Good suggestion from Moe. I notice whitish discoloration marks all the time on my leather dash and doors. My wife is a disciple of the body lotion Gods and whenever she is along for a ride I am cleaning up with leather cleaner even on the plastic surfaces. Her Macan needs a full interior clean after a week.