Has anyone used isopropyl alcohol to remove the soft touch coating on the buttons (and other areas) in your f-type like in this video?

https://youtu.be/SCRDyykxQRg?si=gDVl13m7S3yxMULh

I have a 2015 R RWD, and the soft coating on the buttons have all become sticky. I’ve removed the coating off of some of them, and it looks nice. There’s a spot on the steering wheel which is also sticky where I tried the same approach and had some of the paint on the plastic come off.

my question is: when I’m done removing the sticky stuff, does anyone know any professional detailers in the SF Bay Area who could add back a newer version of the soft touch coating? (I read somewhere that they fixed it so that it doesn’t eventually break down as easily with exposure to the sun.)

 

I removed the sticky soft touch coating with isopropyl alcohol. It's not hard, but you have to be patient. The large areas (steering wheel, door trim, A/C trim) are then "piano black" plastic. The smaller areas (shifter, small shifter bezel, buttons) are painted so you have to be cautious to NOT remove the paint. Just go slow and gently on those. Check your work often and stop as soon as the sticky feel is gone. Do the large areas first to get a feel for the process. Also, mask off the steering wheel leather so you don't take off any leather finish.

As for re-coating, I'd recommend living with the initial result for a while first. I'd prefer mine was in original condition and not sticky but if I didn't know there was originally a soft touch coating, I wouldn't notice anything. That said, I wouldn't trust a re-coating to look and feel "correct" and I wouldn't consider it "original condition" either. The way to do that would be to replace the parts with newer parts. I would guess that the cost of a full set from a wrecked car would cost about the same as a quality recoating if you could even find one.

In the end, it's your car so do what makes you happy. It's very unlikely that anybody else will ever notice or care, so your opinion is all that matters.

 

Another solution for sticky plastic or rubber is to use some clear acrylic spray paint. I have used it on sticky rubber coatings on lenses and binoculars. Obviously you need to mask off anything you don't want sprayed.

 

I think everyone just stopped using soft touch coatings. None of the new parts from Jag have that.

 

My 2015R just has very minor stickiness at the bottom of the steering wheel post. Just noticed the other day. So minor, probably not worth treating.

What accelerates this in some cars and not others? Humid environment? Parking out in the hot sun? My garage queen doesn't get much exposure to those conditions. Always see in ads 'never driven in the rain' as a brag, but parking a car in the hot sun is A LOT worse in my opinion.

If it is over 90f I don't take her out unless there is covered parking available.

Also, there is a big strength difference between 70% and 99% alcohol. 99% is bordering on Acetone in terms of stripping power.

 

Heat and UV exposure probably expedite the process, but I think just contact with air is enough to deteriorate these coatings over time. Perhaps if you stored your cars in pure nitrogen this wouldn't become a problem?

 

My experience is that makeup remover sheets make the sticky coating easier to remove without damaging the coating or lettering underneath. Isopropyl alcohol works too but the force required (and impatience) can result in damage to the lettering or underlying gray coating.

 

Not my area of expertise, yet you might try J C Detailing in Santa Rosa (415) 312-8171

 

There are a few threads under my username, you should be able to find them in a search. I got tired of the BS tries to fix the problem and went to Stick rx. I'm glad I did, I've has the trunk release done too.

 

Looks like they do really nice work. How much was it to refinish everything? I personally went with brand new parts from Jaguar instead and I'm curious if Sticky RX is significantly cheaper.